PR 

4612 
B69 
1899 
MAIN 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


BEQUEST 

OF 

ANITA  D.  S.  BLAKE 


/ 


^a 


J^/^ 


THE  STORY  OF 

LEWIS   CARROLL 

TOLD   FOR  YOUNG  PEOPI  L  BY 

THE  REAL  ALICE  IN  WONDERLAND 

.MISS   ISA   BOWMAN 


WITH  A  DIARY  AND  NUMEROUS 
FACSIMILE      LETTERS      WRITTEN     TO 

MISS  ISA  BOWMAN   and 

OTHERS.  ALSO  MANY  SKETCHES 
AND  PHOTOS  BY  LEWIS  CARROLL 
AND  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS  -^^i- 


NEW  YORK 
E.  P.  BUTTON  ik  COMPANY 

31  West  Twenty-third  Street 
1900 


Copyright,  iSqg 

BY 

E.  P.  DUTTON  &  CO. 


GIFT 


Ube  Iftntcfterbocker  Pvces,  "fflcw  ]i)orf5 


|t)L^^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Miss  Isa  Bowman  (in  Photogravure)   Frontispiece 
Lewis  Carroll's  Room  in  Oxford    ...       9 

C.  L.  DoDGSON 13 

A  Chinaman 17 

Beggar  Children       ......     35 

St.  George  and  the  Dragon  .  .  .  -59 
Lewis  Carroll's  House  at  Eastbourne.  .  65 
Miss  Isa  Bowman  and  Miss  Bessie  Hatton  as 

THE  Little  Princes  in  the  Tower    .         .     73 
Isa  Bowman  as  Duke  of  York  .         .         -77 


Miss  Isa  Bowman  as  "Alic 

(in  Photogravure) 
The  Little  Princes  . 
"  Dolly  Varden  " 
" A  Turk "  . 
Facsimile  of  a  Charade 


e  in  Wonderland  " 

80 

83 

95 

103 

108-109-1 10 


137 


LEWIS     CARROLL 

TT  seems  to  me  a  very  difficult  task  to  sit 
down  at  a  desk  and  write  "reminis- 
cences "  of  a  friend  who  has  gone  from  us 
all. 

It  is  not  easy  to  make  an  effort  and  to  re- 
member all  the  little  personalia  of  some  one 
one  has  loved  very  much,  and  by  whom  one 
has  been  loved.  And  yet  it  is  in  a  measure 
one's  duty  to  tell  the  world  something  of  the 
inner  life  of  a  famous  man  ;  and  Lewis  Car- 
roll was  so  wonderful  a  personality,  and  so 
good  a  man,  that  if  my  pen  dragged  ever  so 
slowly,  I  feel  that  I  can  at  least  tell  some- 
thing of  his  life  which  is  worthy  the  telling. 

Writing  with  the  sense  of  his  loss  still 
heavy  upon  me,  I  must  of  necessity  colour 
my  account  with  sadness.      I  am  not  in  the 


2  LEWIS  CARROLL 

ordinary  sense  a  biographer.  I  cannot  set 
down  a  critical  estimate,  a  cold,  dispassion- 
ate summing-up  of  a  man  I  loved  ;  but  I 
can  write  of  a  few  things  that  happened 
when  I  was  a  little  girl,  and  when  he  used 
to  say  to  me  that  I  was  ^'  his  little  girl." 

The  gracious  presence  of  Lewis  Carroll  is 
with  us  no  longer.  Never  again  will  his 
hand  hold  mine,  and  I  shall  never  hear  his 
voice  more  in  this  world.  Forever  while  I 
live  that  kindly  influence  will  be  gone  from 
my  life,  and  the  "  Friend  of  little  Children  " 
has  left  us. 

And  yet  in  the  full  sorrow  of  it  all  I  find 
some  note  of  comfort.  He  was  so  good  and 
sweet,  so  tender  and  kind,  so  certain  that 
there  was  another  and  more  beautiful  life 
waiting  for  us,  that  I  know,  even  as  if  I 
heard  him  telling  it  to  me,  that  some  time 
I  shall  meet  him  once  more. 

In  all  the  noise  and  excitement  of  Lon- 
don, amid  all  the  distractions  of  a  stage  life, 
I  know  this,  and  his  presence  is  often  very 


LEWIS  CARROLL  3 

near  to  me,  and  the  kindly  voice  is  often  at 
my  ear  as  it  was  in  the  old  days. 

To  have  even  known  such  a  man  as  he 
was  is  an  inestimable  boon.  To  have  been 
with  him  for  so  long  as  a  child,  to  have 
known  so  intimately  the  man  who  above  all 
others  has  understood  childhood,  is  indeed 
a  memory  on  which  to  look  back  with 
thanksgiving  and  with  tears. 

Now  that  I  am  no  longer  '*  his  little  girl," 
now  that  he  is  dead  and  my  life  is  so  differ- 
ent from  the  quiet  life  he  led,  I  can  yet  feel 
the  old  charm,  I  can  still  be  elad  that  he 
has  kissed  me  and  that  we  were  friends. 
Little  girl  and  grave  professor !  it  is  a 
strange  combination.  Grave  professor  and 
little  girl  !  how  curious  it  sounds  !  yet 
strange  and  curious  as  it  may  seem,  it  was 
so,  and  the  little  girl,  now  a  little  girl  no 
longer,  offers  this  last  loving  tribute  to  the 
friend  and  teacher  she  loved  so  well.  For- 
ever that  voice  is  still ;  be  it  mine  to  revive 
some  ancient  memories  of  it. 


4  LEWIS  CARROLL 

First,  however,  as  I  have  essayed  to  be 
some  sort  of  a  biographer,  I  feel  that  before 
I  let  my  pen  run  easily  over  the  tale  of  my 
intimate  knowledge  of  Lewis  Carroll  I  must 
put  down  very  shortly  some  facts  about  his 
life. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Lutwidge  Dodgson 
died  when  he  was  sixty-six  years  old,  and 
when  his  famous  book,  "  Alice  in  Wonder- 
land," had  been  published  for  thirty-three 
years.  He  was  born  at  Daresbury,  in  Che- 
shire, and  his  father  was  the  Rev.  Charles 
Dodgson.  The  first  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  at  Daresbury,  but  afterwards  the  fam- 
ily went  to  live  at  a  place  called  Croft,  in 
Yorkshire.  He  went  first  to  a  private  school 
in  Yorkshire  and  then  to  Rugby,  where  he 
spent  years  that  he  always  remembered  as 
very  happy  ones.  In  1850  he  went  to  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  and  from  that  time  till  the 
year  of  his  death  he  was  inseparably  con- 
nected with  "  The  House,"  as  Christ  Church 
college   is  generally  called,   from   its   Latin 


LEWIS  CARROLL  5 

name  "  yEdes  Christi,"  which  means,  hter- 
ally  translated,  the  House  of  Christ. 

There  he  won  great  distinction  as  a 
scholar  of  mathematics,  and  wrote  many 
abstruse  and  learned  books,  very  different 
from  "Alice  in  Wonderland."  There  is  a 
tale  that  when  the  Queen  had  read  "  Alice 
in  Wonderland  "  she  was  so  pleased  that  she 
asked  for  more  books  by  the  same  author. 
Lewis  Carroll  was  written  to,  and  back,  with 
the  name  of  Charles  Dodgson  on  the  title- 
page,  came  a  number  of  the  very  dryest 
books  about  Algebra  and  Euclid  that  you 
can  imagine. 

Still,  even  in  mathematics  his  whimsical 
fancy  was  sometimes  suffered  to  peep  out,  and 
little  crirls  who  learnt  the  rudiments  of  calcu- 
lation  at  his  knee  found  the  path  they  had 
imagined  so  thorny  set  about  with  roses  by 
reason  of  the  delightful  fun  with  which  he 
would  turn  a  task  Into  a  joy.  But  when  the 
fun  was  over  the  little  o-'irl  would  find  that 
she  had  learnt  the  lesson  (all  unknowingly) 


6  LEWIS  CARROLL 

just  the  same.  Happy  little  girls  who  had 
such  a  master.      The  old  rhyme — 

"  Multiplication  is  vexation, 
Division  is  as  bad, 
The  rule  of  three  doth  puzzle  me, 
And  Practice  drives  me  mad," 

would  never  need  to  have  been  written  had 
all  arithmetic  lessons  been  like  the  arithmetic 
lessons  given  by  Charles  Dodgson  to  his 
little  friends. 

As  a  lecturer  to  his  grown-up  pupils  he 
was  also  surprisingly  lucid,  and  under  his 
deft  treatment  the  knottiest  of  problems 
were  quickly  smoothed  out  and  made  easy 
for  his  hearers  to  comprehend.  *'  I  always 
hated  mathematics  at  school,"  an  ex-pupil  of 
his  told  me  a  little  while  ago,  ''  but  when  I 
went  up  to  Oxford  I  learnt  from  Mr.  Dodg- 
son to  look  upon  my  mathematics  as  the 
most  delightful  of  all  my  studies.  His  lect- 
ures were  never  dry." 

For  twenty-six  years  he  lectured  at  Ox- 
ford,   finally  giving    up    his    post    in    1881. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  7 

From  that  time  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  re- 
mained in  his  college,  taking  no  actual  part 
in  the  tuition,  but  still  enjoying  the  Fellow- 
ship that  he  had  won  in  186 1. 

This  is  an  official  account,  a  brief  sketch 
of  an  intensely  interesting  life.  It  tells  little 
save  that  Lewis  Carroll  was  a  clever  mathe- 
matician and  a  sympathetic  teacher  ;  it  shall 
be  my  work  to  present  him  as  he  was  from 
a  more  human  point  of  view. 

Lewis  Carroll  was  a  man  of  medium 
height.  When  I  knew  him  his  hair  was  a 
silver-grey,  rather  longer  than  it  was  the 
fashion  to  wear,  and  his  eyes  were  a  deep 
blue.  He  was  clean  shaven,  and,  as  he 
walked,  always  seemed  a  little  unsteady  in 
his  gait.  At  Oxford  he  was  a  well-known 
figure.  He  was  a  little  eccentric  in  his 
clothes.  In  the  coldest  weather  he  would 
never  wear  an  overcoat,  and  he  had  a  curious 
habit  of  always  wearing,  in  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  a  pair  of  grey  and  black  cotton  gloves. 

But  for  the  whiteness  of  his  hair  it  was 


8  LEWIS  CARROLL 

difficult  to  tell  his  age  from  his  face,  for 
there  were  no  wrinkles  on  it.  He  had  a 
curiously  womanish  face,  and,  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  his  real  character,  there  seemed 
to  be  little  strength  in  it.  One  reads  a  ereat 
deal  about  the  lines  that  a  man's  life  paints 
in  his  face,  and  there  are  many  people  who 
believe  that  character  is  indicated  by  the 
curves  of  flesh  and  bone.  I  do  not,  and 
never  shall,  believe  it  is  true,  and  Lewis 
Carroll  is  only  one  of  many  instances  to 
support  my  theory.  He  was  as  firm  and 
self-contained  as  a  man  may  be,  but  there 
was  little  to  show  it  in  his  face. 

Yet  you  could  easily  discern  it  in  the  way 
in  which  he  met  and  talked  with  his  friends. 
When  he  shook  hands  with  you — he  had 
firm  white  hands,  rather  large — his  grip  was 
strong  and  steadfast.  Every  one  knows  the 
kind  of  man  of  whom  it  is  said  "  his  hands 
were  all  soft  and  flabby  when  he  said,  '  How- 
do-you-do.'  "  Well,  Lewis  Carroll  was  not 
a  bit  like   that.      Every   one   says  when   he 


X 

Q 

^^ 
O 


lo  LEWIS  CARROLL 

shook  your  hand  the  pressure  of  his  was  full 
of  strength,  and  you  felt  here  indeed  was  a 
man  to  admire  and  to  love.  The  expression 
in  his  eyes  was  also  very  kind  and  charming. 

He  used  to  look  at  me,  when  we  met,  in 
the  very  tenderest,  gentlest  way.  Of  course 
on  an  ordinary  occasion  I  knew  that  his  in- 
terested glance  did  not  mean  anything  of  any 
extra  importance.  Nothing  could  have  hap- 
pened since  I  had  seen  him  last,  yet,  at  the 
same  time,  his  look  was  always  so  deeply 
sympathetic  and  benevolent  that  one  could 
hardly  help  feeling  it  meant  a  great  deal 
more  than  the  expression  of  the  ordinary 
man. 

He  was  af^icted  with  what  I  believe  is 
known  as  ''  Housemaid's  knee,"  and  this 
made  his  movements  singularly  jerky  and 
abrupt.  Then  again  he  found  it  Impossible 
to  avoid  stammering  in  his  speech.  He 
would,  when  engaged  in  an  animated  con- 
versation with  a  friend,  talk  quickly  and  well 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  suddenly  and 


LEWIS  CARROLL  n 

without  any  very  apparent  cause  would  be- 
gin to  stutter  so  much,  that  It  was  often 
difficult  to  understand  him.  He  was  very 
conscious  of  this  Impediment,  and  he  tried 
hard  to  cure  himself.  For  several  years  he 
read  a  scene  from  some  play  of  Shakespeare's 
every  day  aloud,  but  despite  this  he  was 
never  quite  able  to  cure  himself  of  the  habit. 
Many  people  would  have  found  this  a  great 
hindrance  to  the  affairs  of  ordinary  life,  and 
would  have  felt  it  deeply.  Lewis  Carroll 
was  different.  His  mind  and  life  were  so 
simple  and  open  that  there  was  no  room  in 
them  for  self-consciousness,  and  I  have  often 
heard  him  jest  at  his  own  misfortune,  with 
a  comic  wonder  at  it. 

The  personal  characteristic  that  you  would 
notice  most  on  meeting  Lewis  Carroll  was 
his  extreme  shyness.  With  children,  of 
course,  he  was  not  nearly  so  reserved,  but 
in  the  society  of  people  of  maturer  age  he 
was  almost  old-maldlshly  prim  In  his  manner. 
When    he    knew    a   child  well  this    reserve 


12  LEWIS  CARROLL 

would  vanish  completely,  but  it  needed  only 
a  slightly  disconcerting  incident  to  bring  the 
cloak  of  shyness  about  him  once  more,  and 
close  the  lips  that  just  before  had  been  talk- 
ing so  delightfully. 

I  shall  never  forget  one  afternoon  when 
we  had  been  walking  in  Christ  Church  mea- 
dows. On  one  side  of  the  great  open  space 
the  little  river  Cherwell  runs  through  groves 
of  trees  towards  the  I  sis,  where  the  college 
boat-races  are  rowed.  We  were  going  quietly 
along  by  the  side  of  the  "  Cher,"  when  he 
began  to  explain  to  me  that  the  tiny  stream 
was  a  tributary,  ''  a  baby  river  "  he  put  it, 
of  the  big  Thames.  He  talked  for  some 
minutes,  explaining  how  rivers  came  down 
from  hills  and  flowed  eventually  to  the  sea, 
when  he  suddenly  met  a  brother  Don  at  a 
turning  in  the  avenue. 

He  was  holding  my  hand  and  giving  me 
my  lesson  in  geography  with  great  earnest- 
ness when  the  other  man  came  round  the 
corner. 


C.    L.    DODGSON 


13 


14  LEWIS  CARROLL 

He  greeted  him  in  answer  to  his  saluta- 
tion, but  the  incident  disturbed  his  train  of 
thought,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  walk  he 
became  very  difficult  to  understand,  and 
talked  in  a  nervous  and  preoccupied  manner. 
One  strange  way  in  which  his  nervousness 
affected  him  was  peculiarly  characteristic. 
When,  owing  to  the  stupendous  success  of 
"  Alice  in  Wonderland  "  and  ''  Alice  Through 
the  Looking-Glass,"  he  became  a  celebrity 
many  people  were  anxious  to  see  him,  and 
in  some  way  or  other  to  find  out  what  man- 
ner of  man  he  was.  This  seemed  to  him 
horrible,  and  he  invented  a  mild  deception 
for  use  when  some  autograph-hunter  or  curi- 
ous person  sent  him  a  request  for  his  signa- 
ture on  a  photograph,  or  asked  him  some 
silly  question  as  to  the  writing  of  one  of  his 
books,  how  long  it  took  to  write,  and  how 
many  copies  had  been  sold.  Through  some 
third  person  he  always  represented  that 
Lewis  Carroll  the  author  and  Mr.  Dodgson 
the  professor  were  two  distinct  persons,  and 


LEWIS  CARROLL  15 

that  the  author  could  not  be  heard  of  at 
Oxford  at  all.  On  one  occasion  an  American 
actually  wrote  to  say  that  he  had  heard  that 
Lewis  Carroll  had  laid  out  a  garden  to 
represent  some  of  the  scenes  in  "Alice  in 
Wonderland,"  and  that  he  (the  American) 
was  coming  right  away  to  take  photographs 
of  it.  Poor  Lewis  Carroll,  he  was  in  terror 
of  Americans  for  a  week  ! 

Of  being  photographed  he  had  a  horror, 
and  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  continually 
and  importunately  requested  to  sit  before 
the  camera,  only  very  few  photographs  of 
him  are  in  existence.  Yet  he  had  been  him- 
self a  great  amateur  photographer,  and  had 
taken  many  pictures  that  were  remarkable 
in  their  exact  portraiture  of  the  subject. 

It  was  this  exactness  that  he  used  to  pride 
himself  on  in  his  camera  work.  He  always 
said  that  modern  professional  photographers 
spoilt  all  their  pictures  by  touching  them 
up  absurdly  to  flatter  the  sitter.  When  it 
was  necessary  for  me  to  have  some  pictures 


r6  LEWIS  CARROLL 

taken  he  sent  me  to  Mr.  H.  H.  Cameron, 
whom  he  declared  to  be  the  only  artist  who 
dared  to  produce  a  photograph  that  was 
exactly  like  its  subject.  This  is  one  of  the 
photographs  of  me  that  Mr.  Cameron  took, 
and  Lewis  Carroll  always  declared  that  it 
was  a  perfect  specimen  of  portrait  work. 

Many  of  the  photographs  of  children  in 
this  book  are  Lewis  Carroll's  work.  Miss 
Beatrice  Hatch,  to  whose  kindness  I  am  in- 
debted for  these  photographs  and  for  much 
interesting  Information,  writes  in  the  Strand 
Magazine  (April  1898)  : 

"  My  earliest  recollections  of  Mr.  Dodgson  are  con- 
nected with  photography.  He  was  very  fond  of  this  art 
at  one  time,  though  he  had  entirely  given  it  up  for 
many  years  latterly.  He  kept  various  costumes  and 
'  properties '  with  which  to  dress  us  up,  and,  of  course, 
that  added  to  the  fun.  What  child  would  not 
thoroughly  enjoy  personating  a  Japanese  or  a  beggar 
child,  or  a  gipsy  or  an  Indian  ?  Sometimes  there 
were  excursions  to  the  roof  of  the  college,  which  was 
easily  accessible  from  the  w^indows  of  the  studio.  Or 
you  might  stand  by  your  friend's  side  in  the  tiny 
dark  room  and  watch  him  while  he  poured  the  con- 
tents of  several  little  strong-smelling  bottles  on  to  the 


LEWIS  CARROLL  17 

glass  picture  of  yourself  that  looked  so  funny  with  its 
black   face." 


A    CHINAMAN 


Yet,  despite  his  love   for  the  photograph- 
er's art,   he    hated    the    idea  of    havino-    his 


i8  LEWIS  CARROLL 

own  picture  taken  for  the  benefit  of  a  curious 
world.  The  shyness  that  made  him  nervous 
in  the  presence  of  strangers  made  the  idea 
that  any  one  who  cared  to  stare  into  a  shop 
window  could  examine  and  criticise  his  por- 
trait extremely  repulsive  to  him. 

I  remember  that  this  shyness  of  his  was 
the  only  occasion  of  anything  approaching  a 
quarrel  between  us. 

I  had  an  idle  trick  of  drawing  caricatures 
when  I  was  a  child,  and  one  day  when  he 
was  writinor  some  letters  I  be^an  to  make  a 
picture  of  him  on  the  back  of  an  envelope. 
I  quite  forget  what  the  drawing  was  like — 
probably  it  was  an  abominable  libel — but 
suddenly  he  turned  round  and  saw  what  I 
was  doing.  He  got  up  from  his  seat  and 
turned  very  red,  frightening  me  very  much. 
Then  he  took  my  poor  little  drawing,  and 
tearing  it  into  small  pieces  threw  it  into  the 
fire  without  a  word.  Afterwards  he  came 
suddenly  to  me,  and  saying  nothing,  caught 
me  up  in  his  arms  and  kissed  me  passionately. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  19 

I  was  only  some  ten  or  eleven  years  of  age 
at  the  time,  but  now  the  incident  comes  back 
to  me  very  clearly,  and  I  can  see  it  as  if  it 
happened  but  yesterday — the  sudden  snatch- 
ing of  my  picture,  the  hurried  striding  across 
the  room,  and  then  the  tender  li^ht  in  his 
face  as  he  caught  me  up  to  him  and  kissed 
me. 

I  used  to  see  a  good  deal  of  him  at  Oxford, 
and  I  was  constantly  in  Christ  Church.  He 
would  invite  me  to  stay  with  him  and  find 
me  rooms  just  outside  the  college  gates, 
where  I  was  put  into  charge  of  an  elderly 
dame,  whose  name,  if  I  do  not  foro^et,  was 
Mrs.  Buxall.  I  would  spend  long  happy 
days  with  my  uncle,  and  at  nine  o'clock  I 
was  taken  over  to  the  little  house  in  St. 
Aldates  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the 
landlady,  who  put  me  to  bed. 

In  the  morning  I  was  awakened  by  the 
deep  reverberations  of  "  Great  Tom  "  calling 
Oxford  to  wake  and  begin  the  new  day. 
Those    times   were  very  pleasant,    and    the 


20  LEWIS  CARROLL 

remembrance  of  them  lincrers  with  me  still. 
Lewis  Carroll  at  the  time  of  which  I  am 
speaking  had  two  tiny  turret  rooms,  one  on 
each  side  of  his  staircase  in  Christ  Church. 
He  always  used  to  tell  me  that  when  I  grew 
up  and  became  married  he  would  give  me 
the  two  little  rooms,  so  that  if  I  ever  dis- 
agreed with  my  husband  we  could  each  of  us 
retire  to  a  turret  till  we  had  made  up  our 
quarrel  ! 

And  those  rooms  of  his  !  I  do  not  think 
there  was  ever  such  a  fairy-land  for  children. 
I  am  sure  they  must  have  contained  one  of 
the  finest  collections  of  musical-boxes  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  world.  There  were 
big  black  ebony  boxes  with  glass  tops,, 
through  which  you  could  see  all  the  works. 
There  was  a  big  box  with  a  handle,  which  it 
was  quite  hard  exercise  for  a  little  girl  to 
turn,  and  there  must  have  been  twenty  or 
thirty  little  ones  which  could  only  play  one 
tune.  Sometimes  one  of  the  musical-boxes 
would  not  play  properly,  and  then  I  always 


LEWIS  CARROLL  21 

got  tremendously  excited.  Uncle  used  to 
go  to  a  drawer  in  the  table  and  produce  a 
box  of  little  screw-drivers  and  punches,  and 
while  I  sat  on  his  knee  he  would  unscrew 
the  lid  and  take  out  the  wheels  to  see  what 
was  the  matter.  He  must  have  been  a 
clever  mechanist,  for  the  result  was  always 
the  same — after  a  longer  or  shorter  period  the 
music  beean  aeain.  Sometimes  when  the 
musical  -  boxes  had  played  all  their  tunes 
he  used  to  put  them  in  the  box  backwards, 
and  was  as  pleased  as  I  at  the  comic  effect 
of  the  music  "standing  on  its  head,"  as  he 
phrased  it. 

There  was  another  and  very  wonderful 
toy  which  he  sometimes  produced  for  me, 
and  this  w^as  known  as  "  The  Bat."  The 
ceilinufs  of  the  rooms  in  which  he  lived  at 
the  time  were  very  high  indeed,  and  admira- 
bly suited  for  the  purposes  of  "  The  Bat." 
It  was  an  ingeniously  constructed  toy  of 
gauze  and  wire,  which  actually  flew  about 
the  room  like  a  bat.      It  was  worked  by  a 


22  LEWIS  CARROLL 

piece  of  twisted  elastic,  and  It  could  fly  for 
about  half  a  minute. 

I  was  always  a  little  afraid  of  this  toy  be- 
cause it  was  too  lifelike,  but  there  was  a 
fearful  joy  in  it.  When  the  music-boxes 
began  to  pall  he  would  get  up  from  his 
chair  and  look  at  me  with  a  knowing  smile. 
I  always  knew  what  was  coming  even  before 
he  began  to  speak,  and  I  used  to  dance  up 
and  down  in  tremendous  anticipation. 

"  Isa,  my  darling,"  he  would  say,  "once 
upon  a  time  there  was  some  one  called  Bob 
the  Bat  !  and  he  lived  in  the  top  left-hand 
drawer  of  the  writing-table.  What  could  he 
do  when  uncle  wound  him  up  ? " 

And  then  I  would  squeak  out  breathlessly, 
"  He  could  really  Fly  ! " 

Bob  the  Bat  had  many  adventures.  There 
was  no  way  of  controlling  the  direction  of 
its  flight,  and  one  morning,  a  hot  summer's 
morning  when  the  window  was  wide  open, 
Bob  flew  out  into  the  garden  and  alighted 
in  a  bowl  of  salad  which  a  scout  was  taking 


LEWIS  CARROLL  23 

to  some  one's  rooms.  The  poor  fellow  was 
so  startled  by  the  sudden  flapping  apparition 
that  he  dropped  the  bowl,  and  it  was  broken 
into  a  thousand  pieces. 

There  !  I  have  written  "  a  thousand  pieces," 
and  a  thoughtless  exas^oreration  of  that  sort 
was  a  thing  that  Lewis  Carroll  hated.  "  A 
thousand  pieces  ?  "  he  would  have  said  ;  "  you 
know,  Isa,  that  if  the  bowl  had  been  broken 
into  a  thousand  pieces  they  would  each  have 
been  so  tiny  that  you  could  have  hardly  seen 
them.  And  if  the  broken  pieces  had  been 
get-at-able,  he  would  have  made  me  count 
them  as  a  means  of  impressing  on  my  mind 
the  folly  of  needless  exaggeration. 

I  remember  how  annoyed  he  was  once 
when,  after  a  mornincr's  sea  bathinor  at  East- 
bourne,  I  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  this  salt  water,  it 
always  makes  my  hair  as  stiff  as  a  poker." 

He  impressed  it  on  me  quite  irritably  that 
no  little  girl's  hair  could  ever  possibly  get  as 
stiff  as  a  poker.  "If  you  had  said,  'as  stiff 
as  wires,'  it  would  have  been  more  like  it,  but 


24  LEWIS  CARROLL 

even  that  would  have  been  an  exaeeeration." 
And  then,  seeing  that  I  was  a  httle  fright- 
ened, he  drew  for  me  a  picture  of  ''  The  Httle 
girl  called  Isa  whose  hair  turned  into  pokers 
because  she  was  always  exaggerating  things." 

That,  and  all  the  other  pictures  that  he 
drew  for  me  are,  I  'm  sorry  to  say,  the  sole 
property  of  the  little  fishes  in  the  Irish 
Channel,  where  a  clumsy  porter  dropped 
them  as  we  hurried  into  the  boat  at  Holy- 
head. 

"  I  nearly  died  of  laughing,"  was  another 
expression  that  he  particularly  disliked  ;  in 
fact  any  form  of  exaggeration  generally 
called  from  him  a  reproof,  though  he  was 
sometimes  content  to  make  fun.  For  in- 
stance, my  sisters  and  I  had  sent  him  "  mil- 
lions of  kisses  "  in  a  letter.  Below  you  will 
find  the  letter  that  he  wrote  in  return,  writ- 
ten in  violet  ink  that  he  always  used  (dread- 
fully ugly,  I  used  to  think  it). 


-2/-e>^^      V-*^C4^         l^^yKxJLB    -^^ 


JH 


2a      (a}-uJ^  - 


25 


^tv^^    Ckm^JLJ   J ,  ^-<^^  ""'■^^  <fi4M^ 
^    JZir  ^rr^<-cM.  ,  ^     ret    ^l^MU^^cn^ 


26 


J. tL..^    -^ ~Z^diy< .3 

.x'^-^»W>^^>o->^    ^yy^^^^'yc^e^-     'Urf^-i3^~-C^ 


27 


^     ^^   ^^     '^^'^   *    ^^^^t^      ^^^SCvy      o?      CM( 

^*rc^^    ^.    ^e.^^  /^/^  ^^^(C^^     ^^<ftf , 


28 


LEWIS  CARROLL  29 

"  Cii.  Ch.  Oxford, 
"  Ap.  14,  1890. 
"  My  own  Darling, 

"  It  's  all  very  well  for  you  and  Nellie  and  Emsie  to 
write  in  millions  of  hugs  and  kisses,  but  please  con- 
sider the  time  it  would  occupy  your  poor  old  very 
l)usy  Uncle  !  Try  hugging  and  kissing  Emsie  for  a 
minute  by  the  watch,  and  I  don't  think  you'll  man- 
age it  more  than  20  times  a  minute.  '  Millions'  must 
mean  2  millions  at  least. 

20)2,000,000  hugs  and  kisses 
60)100,000  minutes 
12)1,666  hours 

6)138  days  (at  twelve  hours  a  day) 
23  weeks. 

"I  could  n't  go  on  hugging  and  kissing  more  than 
12  hours  a  day  :  and  I  would  n't  like  to  spend  Sundays 
that  way.  So  you  see  it  would  take  2j  weeks  of  hard 
work.      Really,  my  dear  child,  I  eanuot  spare  the  time. 

"Why  have  n't  I  written  since  my  last  letter? 
Why,  how  eoitld  I,  you  silly  silly  child  ?  How  could 
I  have  written  siiiee  tJie  last  time  I  did  write?  Now, 
you  just  try  it  with  kissing.  Go  and  kiss  Nellie, 
from  me,  several  times,  and  take  care  to  manage  it  so 
as  to  have  kissed  her  since  the  last  time  you  did  kiss 
her.  Now  go  back  to  your  place,  and  I  '11  question 
you. 

"  '  Have  vou  kissed  her  several  times  ?  ' 

"' Yes,  darling  Uncle.' 

"  '  What  o'clock  was  it  when  you  gave  her  the  last 
kiss  ? ' 


;o 


LEWIS  CARROLL 


"  '  5  minutes  past  lo,  Uncle.' 

"  *  Very  well,  now,  have  you  kissed  her  since?  ' 

"  '  Well — I — ahem  !  ahem  !  ahem  !  (excuse  me, 
Uncle,  I  've  got  a  bad  cough).  I — think — that — I — 
that  is,  you,  know,  I ' 

"  '  Yes,  I  see  !  "  Isa  "  begins  with  "  I,"  and  it  seems 
to  me  as  if  she  was  going  to  end  with  "  I,"  this  time  !  ' 

"  Anyhow,  my  not  writing  has  n't  been  because  I 
was  ///,  but  because  I  was  a  horrid  lazy  old  thing, 
who  kept  putting  it  off  from  day  to  day,  till  at  last  I 
said  to  myself,  'WHO  ROAR  !  There's  no  time  to 
write  now,  because  they  sail  on  the  ist  of  April.'  '  In 
fact,  I  should  n't  have  been  a  bit  surprised  if  this 
letter  had  been  from  Fulhani^  instead  of  Louisville. 
Well,  I  suppose  you  will  be  there  by  about  the  middle 
of  May.  But  mind  you  don't  write  to  me  from  there  ! 
Please,  please^  no  more  horrid  letters  from  you  !  I 
do  hate  them  so  !  And  as  for  kissing  them  wlien  I 
get  them,  wliy,  I  'd  just  as  soon  kiss — kiss — kiss  you, 
you  tiresome  thing  !     So  there  now  ! 

"  Thank  you  very  much  for  those  2  i)hotographs 
—  I  liked  them — hum — pretty  well.  I  can't  honestly 
say  I  thouglit  them  the  very  best  I  had  ever  seen. 

"  Please  give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  mother, 
and  1^  of  a  kiss  to  Nellie,  and  -oio  of  ^  kiss  to  Emsie, 
and  ^TiToijTiroo  of  ^  kiss  to  yourself.  So,  with  fondest 
love,  I  am,  my  darling,  your  loving  Uncle, 

"  C.   L.   DODGSON." 

'  This  refers  to  my  visit  to  America  when,  as  a  child,  I  played 
the  little  Duke  of  York  in  "  Richard  III." 


LEWIS  CARROLL  31 

And  now,  in  the  postscript,  comes  one  of 
the  rare  instances  in  which  Lewis  Carroll 
showed  his  deep  religious  feeling.      It  runs — 

''  I'.S. — I've  thought  about  that  little  prayer  you 
asked  me  to  write  for  Nellie  and  Emsie.  But  I  would 
like,  first,  to  have  the  words  of  the  one  I  wrote  for 
you,  and  the  words  of  what  they  nc?7£J  say,  if  they  say 
any.  And  then  I  will  pray  to  our  Heavenly  Father 
to  help  me  to  write  a  prayer  that  will  be  really  fit  for 
them  to  use." 

Again,  I  had  ended  one  of  my  letters 
with  "all  join  me  in  lufs  and  kisses."  It 
was  a  letter  written  when  I  was  away  from 
home  and  alone,  and  I  had  put  the  usual 
ending  thoughtlessly  and  in  haste,  for  there 
was  no  one  that  I  knew  in  all  that  town  who 
could  have  joined  me  in  my  messages  to 
him.      He  answered  me  as  follows  : — 

"  7  LusHiNGTON  Road,  Eastbourne, 
Aug.  30,  go. 

"  Oh,  you  naughty,  naughty,  bad  wicked  little  girl  ! 
You  forgot  to  ])ut  a  stamp  on  your  letter,  and  your 
poor  old  uncle  had  to  pay  TWOPENCE!  His  last 
Twopence  !  Think  of  that.  I  shall  punish  you  se- 
verely for  this  when  once  I  get  you  here.  So  tremble  1 
Do  you  hear  ?     Be  good  enough  to  tremble  ! 


32  LEWIS  CARROLL 

"  I  've  only  time  for  one  question  to-day.  Who  in 
the  world  are  the  '  all  '  that  join  you  in  '  Lufs  and 
kisses.'  Were  n't  you  fancying  you  were  at  home,  and 
sending  messages  (as  people  constantly  do)  from  Nellie 
and  Emsie  without  their  having  given  any  ?  It  is  n't 
a  good  plan  that  sending  messages  people  have  n't 
given.  I  don't  mean  it  's  in  the  least  iniU'uihfnl^  be- 
cause everybody  knows  how  commonly  they  are  sent 
without  having  been  given  ;  but  it  lessens  the  pleasure 
of  receiving  the  messages.  My  sisters  write  to  me 
'with  best  love  from  all.'  I  know  it  isn't  true  ;  so  I 
don't  value  it  much.  The  other  day,  the  husband  of 
one  of  my  'child-friends'  (who  always  writes  'your 
loving  ')  wrote  to  me  and  ended  with  '  Ethel  joins  me 
in  kindest  regards.'  In  my  answer  I  said  (of  course 
in  fun) — '  I  am  not  going  to  send  Ethel  kindest  re- 
gards, so  I  won't  send  her  any  message  at  all'  Then 
she  wrote  to  say  she  didn't  even  know  he  was  writ- 
ing !  '  Of  course  I  would  have  sent  best  love,'  and 
she  added  that  she  had  given  her  husband  a  piece  of 
her  mind  !     Poor  husband  ! 

"  Your  always  loving  uncle, 

"C.  L.  D." 

These  letters  are  written  in  Lewis  Car- 
roll's ordinary  handwriting,  not  a  particularly 
legible  one.  When,  however,  he  was  writ- 
ing for  the  press  no  characters  could  have 
been  more  clearly  and  distinctly  formed  than 
his.      Throughout  his  life  he  always  made  it 


LEWIS  CARROLL  33 

his  care  to  give  as  little  trouble  as  possible 
to  other  people.  "  Why  should  the  printers 
have  to  work  overtime  because  my  letters 
are  ill-formed  and  my  words  run  into  each 
other  ? "  he  once  said,  when  a  friend  remon- 
strated with  him  because  he  took  such  pains 
with  the  writing  of  his  "  copy."  As  a  speci- 
men of  his  careful  penmanship  the  diary  that 
he  wrote  for  me,  which  is  reproduced  in 
this  book  in  facsimile,  is  an  admirable 
example. 

They  were  happy  days,  those  days  in  Ox- 
ford, spent  with  the  most  fascinating  com- 
panion that  a  child  could  have.  In  our 
walks  about  the  old  town,  in  our  visits  to 
cathedral  or  chapel  or  hall,  in  our  visits  to 
his  friends  he  was  an  ideal  companion,  but 
I  think  I  was  almost  happiest  when  we  came 
back  to  his  rooms  and  had  tea  alone  ;  when 
the  fire-glow  (it  was  always  winter  when  I 
stayed  in  Oxford)  threw  fantastic  shadows 
about  the  quaint  room,  and  the  thoughts  of 

the  prosiest  of  people   must  have  wandered 
3 


34  LEWIS  CARROLL 

a  little  into  fancy-land.  The  shifting  fire- 
light seemed  to  almost  aetherealise  that 
kindly  face,  and  as  the  wonderful  stories  fell 
from  his  lips,  and  his  eyes  lighted  on  me 
with  the  sweetest  smile  that  ever  a  man 
wore,  I  was  conscious  of  a  love  and  rever- 
ence for  Charles  Dods^son  that  became 
nearly  an  adoration. 

It  was  almost  pain  when  the  lights  were 
turned  up  and  we  came  back  to  everyday 
life  and  tea. 

He  was  very  particular  about  his  tea, 
which  he  always  made  himself,  and  in  order 
that  it  should  draw  properly  he  would  walk 
about  the  room  swincrine  the  tea-pot  from 
side  to  side  for  exactly  ten  minutes.  The 
idea  of  the  grave  professor  promenading  his 
book-lined  study  and  carefully  weaving  a  tea- 
pot to  and  fro  may  seem  ridiculous,  but  all 
the  minutia£  of  life  received  an  extreme 
attention  at  his  hands,  and  after  the  first 
surprise  one  came  quickly  to  realise  the 
convenience  that  his  carefulness  ensured. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  35 

Before  starting  on  a  railway  journey,  for 


BEGGAR    CHILDREN 


instance  (and   how   delightful  were  railway 
journeys  in  the  company  of  Lewis  Carroll), 


36  LEWIS  CARROLL 

he  used  to  map  out  exactly  every  minute  of 
the  time  that  we  were  to  take  on  the  way. 
The  details  of  the  journey  completed,  he 
would  exactly  calculate  the  amount  of  money 
that  must  be  spent,  and,  in  different  partitions 
of  the  two  purses  that  he  carried,  arrange 
the  various  sums  that  would  be  necessary 
for  cabs,  porters,  newspapers,  refreshments, 
and  the  other  expenses  of  a  journey.  It 
was  wonderful  how  much  trouble  he  saved 
himself  en  route  by  thus  making  ready  be- 
forehand. Lewis  Carroll  was  never  driven 
half  frantic  on  a  station  platform  because  he 
had  to  change  a  sovereign  to  buy  a  penny 
paper  while  the  train  was  on  the  verge  of 
starting.  With  him  journeys  were  always 
comfortable. 

Of  the  joys  that  waited  on  a  little  girl  who 
stayed  with  Lewis  Carroll  at  his  Oxford 
home  I  can  crive  no  better  idea  than  that 
furnished  by  the  diary  that  follows,  which 
he  wrote  for  me,  bit  by  bit,  during  the 
evenings  of  one  of  my  stays  at  Oxford. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  zr 

^-  18S8, 

C}i(Xf>.    I  • 


dKo^,:!J^ 


^/  "Gte.  "  'So. lis    a^   :^ioL^  cc/tc'l  Jso.  iJzou^iir 

in    fr-ordr  h)tre,    rLcdL,CLT^cL   ^o-nxekou)    t^e^ 
jaUtl    u^t^-Ue.  jo^otc^r^  l^klrud-  ,So  Hioct: 


:>S  LEWIS  CARROLL 

you.  coJLJL^  tell    y^ka^re.  iiCv  vuLtL^kcxS, 

foot   ^J- tk^^Gll^  ,'^isire^  ^ae  a.  stfcum-p^kdr 
~Tr-Q^?yierLclou.-^   fieuahJr-tfi^  Trails'  ^mj^i^  [^    ot 

■fiCK  u^t^is      oir  p  a.rtr  of-    M^  rn^cA^re^  ^  The  re-  Ua^s 
'na.   A  7U)vt;  i'>^<^    i^in^icJ^    ^ h^/  ^wio^n^    \*j  rid  sfooJi 
"next    "ti  .X'Sd.  ^clL^u    tx>    CL^^^e^^i^yu^y,^   J^cCi^ 

doCj   loo 'k^il    nro u^yxJ^ J uB't' tlow  'K^c-^  ^^^^ J '/^ 

tike  a.  re.(x.t    ^oj,  tka.ir  l/rvo  ou^Ld-t^r^l    Us 
iX^CicL  'to  Sae-    ^1^0    ^CL-s    CccUCn^    '^' 

fl^eci  A^eL  Mjx?C)  w  tiii:  to  -th-e.    Kouse.  oj-  a^ 

cLii-u-ne-'T-,  cLri.cL'tuJii   of-  her-  c/ic-ldr-e^z^  Ca.llecl 


LEWIS  CARROLL  39 

■H-t    "^Itt^^  I^orA-    PaicH;tle'roy.  Loo- vJ0i<2JL  rio.\Je 

-^e  "Vkojtre^   oUcL  not'  clIU^aJ  Ji-e/r^  ae  ekt^lcL 
rKot   i^%ov)  'tfie^  vooris ^  voKCck  would  Aaye  Piad^ 
If  go    of-f  ircLcLly.JI^a^   I  iJ^ecL 'tfuu  vokole^  rilo^y 
y^ry    7y\ju.clx    -.  Hic^  p  a  ssioi^uxtl  clit  Exi't    anoi 
iJio.   c^^ntU  JSAI^xe/r-  oj-  tfie  little  loj  ^  cLiiJ^tK^ 
droll    "Mr.  yTa!rlrs']anJ^  clU   oftfCa^. 

Qdf  outr  (xt-tktOr  3tvXL0'^'^^  CUnJi  Xs^cu  a.n(L   'the. 

A•-A•^^^.  htt'ct'Q^^iz  o^-forcL.  A  kind  old  l^J 
CO,  f-l ecL  ::t\^rs   S^h-lo  ru^ ,  kcx.L  in^  '(-i^cL  JTscl.  -h     ' 
Co-y^^-    dn-cL  qXz^p  art  herhon^e.  •  drJi  she. 
vv>a5   ^o^n^  ^a^'P  as/eeo,  cLTCj^cLrtcKnrMio^zrlQzr^ 
sAe-  ^^"^^    little^  l^orcL    Th^LLnilcro^  vJ&re  aouna 

CLncL    Vjki'^'t^^'^^  to     a.    cLoj  ,  wko  w  aS   crv  Sicc/x. 
a.   h^rru  iz    go    u.^'tAe^    Tails  tka.tr  iiO- 


^A/  OU^i 


40  LEWIS  CARROLL 

ne.a.Tly    -fou-r  f-e.et  kc^jt  Qso  ±^uf  Usa,    fiat 
rUKnTdilu    to"   6 Loop     at"  all  ^  'tf  qq  ^>^^^  UT^  ^^^ 

ptopie.    ccxXV  Tom,   Clticx.Ji']^  ~Y^u.  'sk:SaU  alvOcLyc^ 

Qaddra^^U  ;   d'  ttl^^I^ /-ee??^  ^^^"^  to  'take 
c^^xi   'TutiCQ,    T^urtr  L^lr cLo e^n^6'  llUe.    Joeu)^& 
CoulleL    naime-    On^t/ieor  ^y  ~hCh.ru=,-t  Cktcy,, 
'tAeij     ^^^   <^    tall    n^i^LLTrierd: ^  iil<e~^^  ^p^e 

r-tat"  p^  up    Lrx,   mo.rno'ry  oj^uCr^Q^  ^^Ao^s^ 

?^ec^u,5e- ^^^    w  ou.icL  n.oTr  lre^f\orKa^^C.a.i;{-Q^ 
^LicG.     <y^rCsir    <^A^rcA  was  ^a.itir  i^tl  X^^^C, 


LEWIS  CARROLL  41 


TTw.  /re  ^  are  ^k^L-  ifrz  oLccken ,  4o.    L% 

A^^tcAea   LS  clrod.-tkt  oUest  pari-  ^TL 

ha^a  Hre,  ~jra.t^  ^f^S^ _f-^oua  k  ^  Toast 
forX^     le^S    of  ytiLCtt^TL.  at-  ^^ 

^^ci^eA^.M^  Acs  Ur.U    ^..er^l'^'^s 

of    Qui.  BodULaix^X^^LiruT^  ^  u^  ^rociA'^irii^t^ 
ClTicL^CLS    Ck.   l/cundL   '^oiS  Jusir  CjOLn^   iy      qP   '' 

a-rL.(L   VOrino^LrLa    Ktr    y-ta.n.ds^  _    Tyie     'Band 
teA    ~Mi^yy^  in/^  ^^  qcxro(-Q.ns    of  "Vv^^/f^,;^ 


42  LEWIS  CARROLL 


Cl    School-  tr&dL   aoinc^  on.  ^ho^^re^  i^o^S ^ 
j^ irst  TvLOTck t7iA   Tw tee  To^. nd,  ~i^  Q(Xr4em  — 
UxaTL  Aav'vl;^   Cl  ph-otoc^Tckp/i  don-t    of- '^€711,  all 
tn.  (X  ^^W  — — "^fei-  (LpjroTrLLG^  of-  "^uticIi, 

-Ur^    ""IBraaJL  'U/atkl  IrL~tA^  ev-^yx.Lnj  Siej 
foLo^'x^oL    cd  ""  :F^vtrSL''^tUL  X-So^   hal  Lo^ 

'^h^rc    sJiQ.    v^ent  to   li^i  .  and  i.Teain.-el  sJe 

a,  duck  of   WtUx^^^u.j(^^, 

hhr-  7^eJiiCLna   -Ver\j    CLTru-oSlyj^ )  vOQ-n.tr 
Iaj'uPl  ^-e^   ./\.A,jvr.  (^voko   would   c^o  u)Llt: 
Jie?-^  t^oiiJ^  sAe  '^old  jLcnu  o\^£r-  anlovcr 
s/lI  l^outd  rat/i&r^  leaLona)i3  ^^J^rde7i6 

yoht.re.  -tko-y  dt^J-^it-  See  Me  ewa.?L€(y>^^ 


LEWIS  CARROLL  43 

So  sAe  /outcK  lo^  o^^cn^.sAt  i.Utkno^ 

(ZolLeae,    C  tru.'d.lr  Cv^   l^S^Sj  ^ai\J_    dclmcTed, 
tk^     ^a.ro)-Q^  /awn.  ^  KJ/(^re    -jnoT^.  'tA^o^  IS'O 

SiLv-e,r^  \<>2reL   n^oir w) alk  l^'ua    ab-otLtr. 

CiolLe^e.     C  l^u.d^    u^   1(9/0)  -  ank_l^Z^^ 
T^^u)    Mu^enTir.^  U)/iere.  X^^  c^Uiibc  lost  /i.Qr- 
KtcLtt  to    a,  chcx.'no'Li-i'x^  ^ijlffeJi   ^-dtLUol^ 
thai  "^JrtiUct  oi^)x£r^  f-roni.  u  alass  CaS^, 

^A-e.    ^'n.o  ft  Carious  tk cn^  tAeu  ^^W  ih er^ 


44  LEWIS  CARROLL 

-tiaJr  Looks  -e-Kudlx^  lik^c^  vo'Jirereil  ^e^f^ 

tJCrou-^k  ttei  yoalC^  one  o-f-  t^-eforst^^er^ 

of    CAe.     old.    Ci(rL)"^ails    rwrL^ou/n.ci    6^ 

stlU    Stt    Some,   of-  tte   oU  ^^rroiV   Kiel's, 

thr  ovio^L    K)/iLc/L~t^  ciefenj_€rs    could 

^foot:    arrows  at  irk^^  oCttack^'^^    ^'^ntu 

\A:>hb    aou.il    Jtarli^    Sac:2eed    Cn.  sAootun^ 

of  ^r.    P(xo^2t  on.^  of-iMJ^<^nmi^  ^f^^-Ci, 
Tk-en^  afte^  c^   Sorrowful   ^^^-eTicn^ ^  Xsa 
■  -^  erCt  to    Ued  J  ctncL   Jlreamed  sfle.'VJUS 
iTux-z-i-yu^     ai/oui    a'n^Qn(>~tfre  'f'lo\^jers^ 

CLn\j    Aon&yj   L'i\,'tfiQ7rL.- Omiu   sUces    o-f 


LEWIS  CARROLL  45 

G'Tz,    SckLurdoAj   Tsa.  na.(L   a.M'uj^Ld 

v_e2lM.  cd.  ^//^  cccLt-  L  nstnr  u  m  e-nt  ~io  p  lay  ^ 
0-5    T-)OLL  (mL  Aav^  2o"  tu.-r'n^  ^  X^^ndte  Toauoi 

cxifid  raund^  :  So   sfi^di^^  llr  nxc eLj SYaxJu 
pjuctr  CL  ioTL^  jruace,  oj-poufi-er  uk.^  a^z^  ot 
goes  '^rou.^n,  c^  rrL(xch.iite.^0L^^  t^e.Aole^ 
i'nStke  f^CLpAyr  ?n,cUxe.  dij^-pe/r-eAd:  TLote^ 

yO^CKy-        -L/l-etj      /t<X^    0-71^2-     L-K     ^roH.j    6^// 

Sooyv-  foLcncL  'iAe?7±seL v-e.Q    lto  "i/te.  clooh  i>t-fo re. 
\j  9,sb2TdlaAj  :  So  ikeyi    dcxreJi  n6~{r(jo  on.  for- 
-jeojr  oj-  r^'UxkLOtCj     J^^a.  So  (^^^^^  -S/^£  \A)ou,l(l^ 
%6t  b-t  cKUe  to-  talk,,  "^Ae.  A'A^NJa^s 
Twlt  Z^"^e.  vt."&z.75o7^5    \^)y{o   otlIk^  ho  U)l  ^  Whit 
aet  TecL  UrStAe.  -j-ace^Jr^oyn.  morrU^c  to  H^aJcb 
XrLthe.  CLfl^r>yt-o o-yCjiTeA^    v^ eM:t"^o c4^(^ 

Ck,  CA.  rn&cKclovo ^  and  5-AW^e    -^^rfs 
l^io^&i^q  l^~/Ajl^(^otle.^eS^  c^ymL'^on^e./ireti^ 


46  LEWIS  CARROLL 

TAe?i.   ^ey    ^^-^  uiTOLLo.k,  'the.    SoLo^TLtcal 

C^aTcLe/yiS ,    iru.iL't'  in  tJre^  'y-e.a.-r— ?^o^  i<y 

■^te.  fyd^-Z^ej^    ^eve^   w-er^   tuuilt    oCt  all .    JndL 
tkeix.  -to   Ji^cjcUUo^    Cioile^e.  Jt  tKe.tfp  o-f  tfk. 

^o^iy   -j^o^ct  J  cc^rvecL    in,  <^to'ixe    yo'ctK-  O-  irrocL 
ar'^/nj^  ATccL   a,    t^ttte,   m.a.n^    act  ^e.  sUe^e^Ael/^n^ 

0'1^1^'^jCCL  f-OT  Aiv-L-  XS^  t^oa^k-tt^-t^-^^^^^t 
'i:iv\-^  sA^  vOa/rcts  to  Lauc^k^  sha.  \;)UL  c^e-tJ^fetWo^ 

and  TVTao^c^Le  tf  keip>  her-  l^itK^-tu)o  pe.ojx.i^tz 
pull  a/>    me.  Corntrs    o-f-  ^oc^r^  -mou.tjLfor^^ou.^ 

/lab    Ol  f^rett^  \^(xik   clL   round  tt]  circhecL  ovei^ 
U)itfl  'tries  '    ^nct  -lAereJ^Cj  yi^et  a.lacL^  "fronx^ 
/l^jY^vLTrica^'^  (KS    ^he  told,  tjievr^,  vdj^o  u)and:eZ  td 
^^^^    -tte  i^o^y  if  "Ad<ii5oo^^s  -WoXk''^  a^tcL par, 

Xoa^,c,X-tkcd::rLost  ofitt  Uor^S  anA  U^tfS 
a.^llru.{-fo.iot^.rouLnLtK2,    meacloxO^,^ere ^act^ 

.e^e  ^^JL^riy  e,er/aiecL/^eo;.te.  :  s. 
elie.  'oQ^  of-f-    P^2e   amcL-tre7T^LLit^  ^  and^^nei. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  47 

oaw  her   no    ?nore  -   o^lu  tAeu  kearcL    Atr 
yoAa±    haJL  A^j)eneJL  -^  Aer 

/^O.ftaJ^  OxfonL,  and  Called  07x  a.  tc^d.  Called 
-Mrs  J-e.cLii^j  (xncL  /le-r  Ic-ttte^  QJ^ayncL-Iku-A-ier^ 
calleA   ''Nbel^l  l/eccLcL5e    5/5^  a^ as-    Irvm^      an^ 

Christ lo^c^s  -^<^^^  C'^oU  "  cs-Me  Trend  name. 
jor  '' Ckristnxas'^  J)^^cLtK.erer^ey^  kaJL   So 

TkcTL   -thex^     )^zyx:t  ko7}X^ ,    iovoi-u    a,  Icttle, 

doo^  eLanJlLixcj  ;fLxecL  cnrtke^  rrxyLcidle^  of-  ZXd, 
street'  aS  '-f-  l^ i tet  iA)<i.-re.  c^lued^  tke. 
c^'Tou.ndi  :  LAa^  o.^ke(^   \{r Low)  U^xa   drTneaicb  Co 

Coodd^   ''till  '^e.\^eeJ<    cxf^ter^  riejx>-t'- 

Ghe,    '^a.S   goc7i^    Tou.ri(L  ~NCcKGcLo^LerL   J^TeajjouJ 

yjixs    ^  trLL-ffalo-  siCtcn^    ^ df{h.t^  of^yerj 
tre.e^    kanctirm    her  a^^5    of-~teoi.  olS    she^ 


48  LEWIS  CARROLL 

''tko.  C.UJX.S    u^5 cde-dioYjTi ^  So  tkodri^e  tlk. 
pjDu.recL  ckU  over  Aer  heaJL    a.n.Ji  'To^  dovon^ 

To    Sir.  T^ojnTxjs    ch-LLTcJx^^  Ci^K iah.  'S'^ree^b 
Ttl    torVLio^    fion^e  y  ^^^-n-'i^  street' ^nle-y-t" 
to    tTte    07i£.    v^Kere^-tko^  kaJi^oaixJL  CL-fuKed 

^93)~^^^y    /^'^'^^         ^    f-^xecK     ccut CL  haor- 

Itttk    k'JTeTu^~^o[tkal ^ut  ou±   uts    keaJL 
-ifiTOiiy^   the,  l/-ci^T£    o-^  ifAe  ceiiar-  \^^nJji-sAj^ 

cdr  trCo^    ntyCt  d^or^  h-iit  Z^e    ma-cX-  SacJi  i^o, 
ce^^cL-r-  A)  (lS  Tit^ir^  -iivJr  Ko  use.  ^  aTtdj  Ire-fore 

j^a-Ji     il7ifLX^cL  its   KeoJ! t^in^r  f^o?n, 

i,ts  rtack    or  J^rovi^tKe,  t-ctrS ^  c^hA  haX  oone. 

IrhSii^.   ^^  tkoLco^hL  the,    o^ivc?7v^ls       ct^ 

this    CiM^  kcLve.    o^c^rLoos    i/Jo^    ^/ /'^  ^!15 

-''      ^he-n  tKo-j    ^^nZ  ^acA.  ^  dL  CLk^o^nl 

ioo'h^d      cct    a^tot  of-    cItzS^CS,    voX.<.^/4 


LEWIS  CARROLL  49 

^rt^pheX.    Some    o-f  tAe^  Presses  Aal     u-eerv 
u  5  eX    ^^  ^^  ^1"^  7^^  ^  7n^«5    aZ^  2)  r^a  ry  -X  <x.7i£  ;  >f(3;??e 
i.^;er^    ^^^/  ^  ^r(f55    tyo  [tea oar-  ckilJireoi,  ui: 
Some  Acid    Irec')^   ^eYj  ^rrtcx^ni/  cce?tir  onct^lujt 
h)ere.  (AtaT7xo^  itLtt^  oil.  cLnL  sAaU^.Tcdk^nc 
6-f    otL  cLresses^  t/iere  ls  one.    Cq  [[eoe.  ck  Ox. 
-J^rd.  So    oicL   -tha^t-otis   n-ot  k^ovOr^/oy- 

^ruo  i^-^^ 'twere.  Say  Ur  w'CLS  iruiUr  m^y^e^ 
-irkcin.  1000  years  0-^5  .  ^-h.cL  ^  ^yojie^'tfiey 
Say  'thU  ,~i'Ae  ^eojile  kiAo   live.    LPv^^ot^ey- 

^YVK^o^t  resfiedrf^y ^^^  tAe^  vo,-nJc 

'~V/ie.    ^^"1^    c/ojy  ^  lSa_   SavJ  cl.  ^t^ru^u-S 
trook  ^   of   pietliY^eS    o>-f  Q^ostl  -Xf  x^oll  loo/<: 
/-Lari     oj^    (^^  f-crr  o^  TnuruXTe, ^  cl-kcL  ij[en.  looA' 

ctt    ^  c^cUrL^^  If  oii..  see   £\7iol^r-  ajiosir 
i:/ie.re  -  oniy  ,  -^Ae/i^  yo^  hoLve  cl  ^^c/c  one 
lr\.  ttz,  u~dok  ^tlr  is    c^  lojiite  one.    a-yi,  Sfe- 


50 


LEWIS  CARROLL 


cex^^A^  -   ^A^n,    'd~  is  ^reen  Lrvtk&  u-aok^ 
it    CvS  p,lrxJc    ^n.  tAo^  c  e  itCn^  . 

Xn^  ^^    ^ri'^dlle    o-f-'Pie.  cLa.u ^u.s  olSllU^ 

w  ds    ^r^p-LleTr-  i^/iaTv,  tL5uLal,   ^ke-re^  vOae    ^ 
dusk    of^^e^rin^o^LLe.6  "  ^Zv(ci  is  /ircnouL^'Lcei. 

i^aJr  ^Ae    \Aj6ulcL  /i<xva.  ti^/^eJi  to   lC\j^  0p_tAe77i 

ail  -Me,  rest  of-ke-r  Ufe  ■ 

Tlx€.y   iooK    a^   little,   vodk  en  ^  a.fteT. 

-r^ooKj   (XTicL  cn.t/fe  nr^Mlt  of-  'Broad  ^-i/eet 

HJi^^     ^^W    ol  cross  Iri^rieA  cvt  ~tfie  q  ro  an  I , 
V  tt^   nea,r  tfe  pXace,  inhere  Vie  J\t(xrtx^rs 
V)ffe.   Ij^Lcr/ted-.  ^ke7i:~they  \^e^f   ckto    ^^ 
a  cLTc:L etis   of-  Tri'-it'Lty    College   CbiiuK^  i'^ 
IS^S^J^  -^  see.-b^  "-JZ^imaTValk"^   a^  t>TeW^ 

Crcfn^^'^des"  ^^  ^  ^^   of-  ^^  garde?x. 
utC    not  T6a.l  ^  dis ^  o'lxt'  alL  cLono.  6x  (me, 
pieci^  :  ancL-tAe^  c^o  uXl-^lr  op.e7v'tkem^e-\^e7u 
Cf- ^o^^  knocked  (xU-   Aay  .Xs^-^ou^Ait-Uem 
(X.  nUe  eraile-    '^'h.nu. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  51 


lAjiPh'ireas    cml  daer^  •'  'IraiyDc.y^/ci!'    o-f 
^  LL7VS  :  'tPiat:  L^  ^  ^-recorrouus  o^  <^^-^^^nanS 
\/)h^c.K    stood  'tA.e/re- >^ h--€/}T^  TCi^  (Carles 
tfUt  Vir'ot  Wa'b  Lix  ChcfarA^  cunL   Oliver 

'Wtttr  Suck  treme7^dously  n.c^rro\^  x^CnJowc 
t/icdr  J-6cL  vOae  o^frcUct'wi^  ^^^^y  gentle* 
-m-^TL-  \A)lio    Come.    t^Bre  vOiUfioiri^  ai-U 
'to  -^^e^  to  laaTTLthecr  ^e.b6 o7i6jancLuj'dl 

~vu:e^  at  -7^^6'w   CclUo^e.  ^  anJi  kec^rd^  6op?ie 

Then    ^c<ok  to   <^^.    6k. ^  cnponri/nur'^Cit. 

TGol  tri-^L  to- (^0 La{t~i7Le.  i-rop.5'.  tyij^^%K>Jieiv 

eke    haJL  COiA.i'Ctti  ■fQuur-rnLlt^onS,    "^r^e^ 

fiu-rclre^  cL^d  d  eue?^ty  -UojAt'~tAou.5a^^j 


52  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Af-t-tr  cLinner-^  J,^cu  j6t~  SomeCr-oaiu   or- 
otker  C^l^  ^^  ^^"^  Sure  y^ko  lIt  iA)a&)     to 
-:^iyLisk~t/vL6  story  for  k^r.   ^hen^  ^/le  uJt7it 

tkerriUUe  of  Oxford^  loctk  hrj^aei^asi 
Y  Uie.  cjrouTii  OLnd  ka7-Ae^i  ktrt^eeyx^tfie 

in>JtS    of   ^  Cellar-  UJ  inio  vo  ^  ux.ou^o-rf;    \j: 
finc/i  -ial^Ua^^  Tken  5he    drea?7ie/t{e 
^r-trauv  cc^me    Icon,  dnd  i^e  fieo,^  ^Q 
CO.  k€^   0  ^^  ^;^c.7^e  /  "Bui  sAe  crUl 

Oaf:    'Ok,  ru^-t    c^ciuz  ^  1-6  uj^^U /^  tol 

(lTQ.a.lful   i^  -^ave  TYLy    v  cSut    all  OV^T- 

smllei.  c}k.  her  steep ^   a  7^1.  Sa^£  'hTell, 
do  T/ou.  Atlom^j  (xf'ter  c^iL ,  1  tfiLTuk   X 
y\)ou2An,lr  yYiL7i,iL  do  v-f-ry  ynLtcft.   cf  J- 
did  fiixve    tlr  (xll  over  (xaain,!''^ 


XjQv^Cs    Cajtrotl 


T.-HTE  ENt> 


LEWIS  CARROLL  53 

This  diary,  and  what  I  have  written  before, 
show  how  I,  as  a  Httle  girl,  knew  Lewis 
Carroll  at  Oxford. 

For  his  little  girl  friends,  of  course,  he  re- 
served the  most  intimate  side  of  his  nature, 
but  on  occasion  he  would  throw  off  his  re- 
serve and  talk  earnestly  and  well  to  some 
young  man  in  whose  life  he  took  an  interest. 

Mr.  Arthur  Girdlestone  is  able  to  bear 
witness  to  this,  and  he  has  given  me  an 
account  of  an  evening  that  he  once  spent 
with  Lewis  Carroll,  which  I  reproduce 
here  from  notes  made  durino;  our  con- 
versation. 

Mr.  Girdlestone,  then  an  undergraduate 
at  New  College,  had  on  one  occasion  to  call 
on  Lewis  Carroll  at  his  rooms  in  Tom  Quad. 
At  the  time  of  which  I  am  speaking  Lewis 
Carroll  had  retired  very  much  from  the  soci- 
ety which  he  had  affected  a  few  years  before. 
Indeed  for  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  was 
almost  a  recluse,  and  beyond  dining  in  Hall 
saw  hardly  any  one.      Miss  Beatrice  Hatch, 


54  LEWIS  CARROLL 

one  of  his  "girl  friends,"  writes  apropos  of 
his  hermit-Hke  sechision  : — 

"If  you  were  very  anxious  to  get  him  to 
come  to  your  house  on  any  particular  day, 
the  only  chance  was  not  to  invite  him,  but 
only  to  inform  him  that  you  would  be  at 
home.  Otherwise  he  would  say,  '  As  you 
have  invited  me  I  cannot  come,  for  I  have 
made  a  rule  to  decline  all  invitations  ;  but 
I  will  come  the  next  day.'  In  former  years 
he  would  sometimes  consent  to  eo  to  a 
'  party '  if  he  was  quite  sure  he  was  npt  to 
be  'shown  off'  or  introduced  to  any  one  as 
the  author  of  'Alice.'  I  must  again  quote 
from  a  note  of  his  in  answer  to  an  invitation 
to  tea  :  '  What  an  awful  proposition  !  To 
drink  tea  from  four  to  six  would  tax  the 
constitution  even  of  a  hardened  tea  drinker  ! 
For  me,  who  hardly  ever  touch  it,  it  would 
probably  be  fatal.'  " 

All  through  the  University,  except  in  an 
extremely  limited  circle,  Lewis  Carroll  was 
regarded  as  a  person  who  lived  very  much 


LEWIS  CARROLL  55 

by  himself.  "When,"  Mr.  Girdlestone  said 
to  me,  "  I  went  to  see  him  on  quite  a  shght 
acquaintance,  I  confess  it  was  with  some 
shght  feehng  of  trepidation.  However  I 
had  to  go  on  some  business,  and  accord- 
ingly I  knocked  at  his  door  about  8.30  one 
winter's  evening,  and  was  Invited  to  come  in. 

"He  was  sitting  working  at  a  writing- 
table,  and  all  round  hlrn  were  piles  of  MSS. 
arranged  with  mathematical  neatness,  and 
many  of  them  tied  up  with  tape.  The  lamp 
threw  his  face  Into  sharp  relief  as  he  greeted 
me.l  My  business  was  soon  over,  and  I  was 
about  to  go  away,  when  he  asked  me  If  I 
would  have  a  o^lass  of  wine  and  sit  with  him 
for  a  little. 

"  The  night  outside  was  very  cold,  and 
the  fire  was  bright  and  inviting,  and  I  sat 
down.  He  began  to  talk  to  me  of  ordinary 
subjects,  of  the  things  a  man  might  do  at 
Oxford,  of  the  place  itself,  and  the  affection 
in  which  he  held  It.  He  talked  quietly, 
and   In   a   rather   tired    voice.      Durlnor    our 


56  LEWIS  CARROLL 

conversation  nw  eye  fell  upon  a  photograph 
of  a  little  girli—evidently  from  the  freshness 
of  its  appearance  but  newly  taken — which  was 
resting  upon  the  ledge  of  a  reading-stand  at 
my  elbow.  It  was  the  picture  of  a  tiny 
child,  very  pretty,  and  I  picked  it  up  to 
look  at  it.  Ij 

'' '  That  is  the  baby  of  a  girl  friend  of 
mine,'  he  said,  and  then,  with  an  absolute 
change  of  voice,  '  there  is  something  very 
strange  about  very  young  children,  some- 
thing I  cannot  understand.'  I  asked  him 
in  what  way,  and  he  explained  at  some 
length.  He  was  far  less  at  his  ease  than 
when  talking  trivialities,  and  he  occasionally 
stammered  and  sometimes  hesitated  for  a 
word.  /  I  cannot  remember  all  he  said,  but 
some  of  his  remarks  still  remain  with  me.) 
He  said  that  in  the  company  of  very  little 
children  his"  brain  enjoyed  a  rest  which  was 
startlingly  recuperative.  \If  he  had  been 
working^  too  hard  or  had  tired  his  brain  in 
any  way,]  to  play  with  children  was  like  an 


LEWIS  CARROLL  57 

actual  material  tonic  to  his  whole  system, 
([understood  hini  to  say  that  the  effect  was 
almost  physical  [) 

"He  said  that  he  found  it  much  easier  to 
understand  children,  to  get  his  mind  into 
correspondence  with  their  minds  when  he 
was  fatigued  with  other  work.  /Personally, 
I  did  not  understand  little  children,  and 
they  seemed  quite  outside  my  experience, 
and  rather  incautiously  I  asked  him  if  child- 
ren never  bored  him.  He  had  been  stand- 
ing up  for  most  of  the  time,  and  when  I 
asked  him  that,  he  sat  down  suddenly. 
'They  are  three-fourths  of  my  life,'  he  said. 
i^l  cannot  understand  how  any  one  could  be 
bored  by  little  children.  I  think  when  you 
are  older  you  will  come  to  see  this—  I  hope 
you  '11  come  to  see  it. 'J 

"  After  that  he  changed  the  subject  once 
more,  and  became  again  the  mathemati- 
cian— a  little  formal,  and  rather  weary." 

Mr.  Girdlestone  probably  had  a  unique 
experience,   for  it  was  but   rarely  that    Mr. 


58  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Dodgson  so  far  unburdened  himself  to  a 
comparative  stranger,  and  what  was  even 
worse,  to  a  "  grown-up  stranger." 

Now  I  have  given  you  two  different 
phases  of  Lewis  Carroll  at  Oxford — Lewis 
Carroll  as  the  little  girl's  companion,  and 
Lewis  Carroll  sitting  by  the  fireside  telling 
something  of  his  inner  self  to  a  young  man. 
I  am  going  on  to  talk  about  my  life  with 
him  at  Eastbourne,  where  I  used,  year  by 
year,  to  stay  with  him  at  his  house  in  Lush- 
inorton  Road. 

He  was  very  fond  of  Eastbourne,  and  it 
was  from  that  place  that  I  received  the  most 
charming  letters  that  he  wrote  me.  Here 
is  one,  and  I  could  hardly  say  how  many 
times  I  have  taken  this  delio^htful  letter  from 
its  drawer  to  read  throuo^h  and  throuorh  aorain. 

"  7  LusHiNGTON  Road,  Eastbourne, 
»  "  September  17,  1S93. 

"  Oh,  you  naughty,  naughty  little  culprit  !  If  only 
I  could  fly  to  Fulham  with  a  handy  little  stick  (ten 
feet  long  and  four  inches  thick  is  my  favourite  size) 
how  I  would  rap  your  wicked  little  knuckles.  How- 
ever, there  is  n't  much  harm  done,  so  I  will  sentence 


6o  LEWIS  CARROLL 

you  to  a  very  mild  punishment — only  one  year's  im- 
prisonment. If  you  '11  just  tell  the  Fulham  policeman 
about  it,  he  '11  manage  all  the  rest  for  you,  and  he  '11 
fit  you  with  a  nice  pair  of  handcuffs,  and  lock  you  up 
in  a  nice  cosy  dark  cell,  and  feed  you  on  nice  dry 
bread,  and  delicious  cold  water. 

*'  But  how  badly  you  do  si)ell  'your  words  !  I  loas 
so  puzzled  about  the  'sacks  full  of  love  and  baskets 
full  of  kisses  ! '  But  at  last  I  made  out  why,  of  course, 
you  meant  '  a  sack  full  oi  gloves,  and  a  basket  full  of 
kittens  !'  I'lien  1  understood  what  you  were  sending 
me.  And  just  then  Mrs.  Dyer  came  to  tell  me  a  large 
sack  and  a  basket  had  come.  'J'here  was  such  a  miaw- 
ing  in  the  house,  as  if  all  the  cats  in  Eastbourne  had 
come  to  see  me  !  '  Oli,  just  open  them  please,  Mrs. 
Dyer,  and  count  the  things  in  them  !  ' 

"  So  in  a  few  minutes  Mrs.  Dyer  came  and  said, 
'  500  pairs  of  gloves  in  the  sack  and  250  kittens  in  the 
basket.' 

Dear  me  !  That  makes  1000  gloves  !  four  times 
as  many  gloves  as  kittens  !  It  's  very  kind  of  Maggie, 
but  why  did  she  send  so  many  gloves  ?  for  I  haven't 
got  1000  Jiaiids,  you  know,  Mrs.  Dyer.' 

"  And  Mrs.  Dyer  said,  '  No,  indeed,  you  're  998 
hands  short  of  that  !  ' 

"  However  the  ne.xt  day  I  made  out  what  to  do, 
and  I  took  the  basket  with  me  and  walked  off  to  the 
parish  school — the  girl's  school,  you  know — and  I 
said  to  the  mistress,  '  How  many  little  girls  are  there 
at  school  to-day  ? ' 

Exactly  250,  sir.' 


LEWIS  CARROLL  6i 


H  ( 


And  have  they  all  been  2>ery  good  all  day  ?  ' 
As  good  as  gold,  sir.' 

"  So  I  waited  outside  the  door  with  my  basket,  and 
as  each  little  girl  came  out,  I  just  i)opped  a  soft  little 
kitten  into  her  hands  !  Oh,  what  joy  there  was  !  The 
little  girls  went  all  dancing  home,  nursing  their  kittens, 
and  the  whole  air  was  full  of  purring  !  Then,  the 
next  morning,  I  went  to  the  school,  before  it  opened, 
to  ask  the  little  girls  how  the  kittens  had  behaved  in 
the  night.  And  they  all  arrived  sobbing  and  crying, 
and  their  faces  and  hands  were  all  covered  with 
scratches,  and  they  had  the  kittens  wrapped  up  in 
their  pinafores  to  keep  them  from  scratching  any 
more.  And  they  sobbed  out,  '  The  kittens  have  been 
scratching  us  all  night,  all  the  night. '' 

"  So  then  I  said  to  myself,  '  What  a  nice  little  girl 
Maggie  is.  JVoic  I  see  why  she  sent  all  those  gloves, 
and  why  there  are  four  times  as  many  gloves  as  kit- 
tens ! '  and  I  said  loud  to  tlie  little  girls,  '  Never 
mind,  my  dear  children,  do  your  lessons  lu'rv  nicely, 
and  don't  cry  any  more,  and  when  school  is  over, 
you  '11  find  me  at  the  door,  and  you  shall  see  what  you 
shall  see  ! ' 

"  So,  in  the  evening,  when  the  little  girls  came  run- 
ning out,  with  the  kittens  still  wrapped  up  in  their 
pinafores,  there  was  I,  at  the  door,  with  a  big  sack  ! 
And,  as  each  little  girl  came  out,  I  just  popped  into 
her  hand  two  pairs  of  gloves  !  And  each  little  girl 
unrolled  her  pinafore  and  took  out  an  angry  little 
kitten,  spitting  and  snarling,  with  its  claws  sticking 
out  like  a  hedgehog.      But   it  had  n't  time  to  scratcli. 


62  LEWIS  CARROLL 

for,  in  one  moment,  it  found  all  its  four  claws  popped 
into  nice  soft  warm  gloves  !  And  then  the  kittens  got 
quite  sweet-tempered  and  gentle,  and  began  purring 
again  ! 

"  So  the  little  girls  went  dancing  home  again,  and 
the  next  morning  they  came  dancing  back  to  school. 
The  scratches  were  all  healed,  and  they  told  me 
'  The  kittens  have  been  good  !  '  And,  when  any 
kitten  wants  to  catch  a  mouse,  it  just  takes  off  one  of 
its  gloves  ;  and  if  it  wants  to  catch  two  mice,  it  takes 
off  two  gloves  ;  and  if  it  wants  to  catch  three  mice,  it 
takes  off  three  gloves  ;  and  if  it  wants  to  Q,dX<z\\  four 
mice,  it  takes  off  all  its  gloves.  But  the  moment 
they  've  cauglif  the  mice,  they  pop  their  gloves  on 
again,  because  they  know  we  can't  love  them  without 
their  gloves.  For,  you  see  '  gloves  '  have  got  '  love  ' 
inside  them — there  's  none  outside ! 

"So  all  the  little  girls  said,   '  Please  thank  Maggie, 

and  we  send  her  250  loves,  and  1000  kisses  in  return 

for  her  250  kittens  and  her  1000  loves  !  f'    And  I  told 

them  in  the  wrong  order  !   and  they  said  they  had  n't. 

"  Your  loving  old  Uncle, 

"C.   L.  D. 

"  Tove  and  kisses  to  Nellie  and  Emsie." 

This  letter  takes  up  eight  pages  of  close 
writing,  and  I  should  very  much  doubt  if 
any  child  ever  had  a  more  charming  one 
from  anybody.      The  whimsical  fancy  in  it, 


LEWIS  CARROLL  63 

the  absolute  comprehension  of  a  child's  in- 
tellect, the  quickness  with  which  the  writer 
employs  the  slightest  incident  or  thing  that 
would  be  likely  to  please  a  little  girl,  is 
simply  wonderful.  I  shall  never  forget  how 
the  letter  charmed  and  delighted  my  sister 
Maggie  and  myself.  We  called  it  "  The 
glove  and  kitten  letter,"  and  as  I  look  at  the 
tremulous  handwriting  which  is  lying  by  my 
side,  it  all  comes  back  to  me  very  vividly — like 
the  sound  of  forcrotten  finufers  on  the  latch 
to  some  lonely  fireside  watcher,  when  the 
wind  is  wailinor  round  the  house  with  a 
wilder  inner  note  than  it  has  in  the  daytime. 

At  Eastbourne  I  was  happier  even  with 
Lewis  Carroll  than  I  was  at  Oxford.  We 
seemed  more  free,  and  there  was  the  air  of 
holiday  over  it  all.  Every  day  of  my  stay  at 
the  house  in  Lushington  Road  was  a  perfect 
dream  of  delip^ht. 

There  was  one  regular  and  fixed  routine 
which  hardly  ever  varied,  and  which  I  came 
to    know    by    heart ;     and    I    will    write    an 


64  LEWIS  CARROLL 

account  of  It  here,  and  ask  any  little  girl  who 
reads  it,  if  she  ever  had  such  a  splendid 
time  in  her  life. 

To  begin  with,  we  used  to  get  up  very 
early  indeed.  Our  bedroom  doors  faced 
each  other  at  the  top  of  the  staircase.  When 
I  came  out  of  mine  I  always  knew  if  I  might 
go  into  his  room  or  not  by  his  signal.  If, 
when  I  came  Into  the  passage,  I  found  that 
a  newspaper  had  been  put  under  the  door, 
then  I  knew  I  might  go  in  at  once  ;  but  If 
there  was  no  newspaper,  then  I  had  to  wait 
till  it  appeared.  I  used  to  sit  down  on  the 
top  stair  as  quiet  as  a  mouse,  watching  for 
the  paper  to  come  under  the  door,  when  I 
would  rush  in  almost  before  uncle  had  time 
to  get  out  of  the  way.  This  was  always  the 
first  pleasure  and  excitement  of  the  day. 
Then  we  used  to  go  downstairs  to  break- 
fast, after  which  we  always  read  a  chapter 
out  of  the  Bible.  So  that  I  should  remember 
it,  I  always  had  to  tell  it  to  him  afterwards 
as  a  story  of  my  own. 


LEWIS    CARROLL  S       HOUSE    AT    EASTHOUKNE 


65 


66  LEWIS  CARROLL 

"  Now  then,  Isa  dearest,"  he  would  say, 
"tell  me  a  story,  and  mind  you  begin  with 
'  once  upon  a  time.'  A  story  which  does 
not  begin  with  '  once  upon  a  time '  can't 
possibly  be  a  good  story.  It  's  most  im- 
portant." 

When  I  had  told  my  story  it  was  time  to 
go  out. 

I  was  learnlnof  swimmincr  at  the  Dev^on- 
shire  Park  baths,  and  we  always  had  a  bar- 
gain together.  He  would  never  allow  me  to 
go  to  the  swimming-bath — which  I  revelled 
in — until  I  had  promised  him  faithfully  that 
I  would  go  afterwards  to  the  dentist's. 

He  had  great  ideas  upon  the  importance 
of  a  regular  and  almost  daily  visit  to  the 
dentist.  He  himself  went  to  a  dentist  as  he 
would  have  gone  to  a  hairdresser's,  and  he 
insisted  that  all  the  little  girls  he  knew 
should  go  too.  The  precaution  sounds 
stranore,  and  one  mio^ht  be  inclined  to  think 
that  Lewis  Carroll  carried  it  to  an  unneces- 
sary length  ;  but   I   can  only  bear  personal 


LEWIS  CARROLL  67 

witness  to  the  fact  that  I  have  firm  strong 
teeth,  and  have  never  had  a  toothache  in  my 
Hfe.  I  beheve  I  owe  this  entirely  to  those 
dally  visits  to  the  Eastbourne  dentist. 

Soon  after  this  It  was  time  for  lunch,  and 
we  both  went  back  hand-In-hand  to  the 
rooms  In  Lushlngton  Road.  Lewis  Carroll 
never  had  a  proper  lunch,  a  fact  which  al- 
ways used  to  puzzle  me  tremendously. 

I  could  not  understand  how  a  ble  erown- 
up  man  could  live  on  a  glass  of  sherry  and 
a  biscuit  at  dinner  time.  It  seemed  such  a 
pity  when  there  was  lots  of  mutton  and  rlce- 
puddlng  that  he  should  not  have  any.  I 
always  used  to  ask  him,  "  Are  n't  you  hun- 
gry, uncle,  even  to-day  ?  " 

After  lunch  I  used  to  have  a  lesson  In 
backgammon,  a  game  of  which  he  was  pass- 
ionately fond,  and  of  which  he  could  never 
have  enough.  Then  came  what  to  me  was 
the  ereat  trial  of  the  dav.  I  am  afraid  I 
was  a  very  lazy  little  girl  In  those  days,  and 
I  know  I  hated  walking  far.      The  trial  was. 


68  LEWIS  CARROLL 

that  we  should  walk  to  the  top  of  Beachy 
Head  every  afternoon.  I  used  to  like  It  very 
much  when  I  got  there,  but  the  walk  was 
irksome.  Lewis  Carroll  believed  very  much 
in  a  great  amount  of  exercise,  and  said  one 
should  always  go  to  bed  physically  wearied 
with  the  exercise  of  the  day.  Accordingly 
there  was  no  way  out  of  it,  and  every  after- 
noon I  had  to  walk  to  the  top  of  Beachy 
Head.  He  was  very  good  and  kind.  He 
would  invent  all  sorts  of  new  orames  to  be- 
guile  the  tedium  of  the  way.  One  very  curi- 
ous and  strange  trait  in  his  character  was 
shown  on  these  walks.  I  used  to  be  very 
fond  of  flowers  and  of  animals  also.  A  pretty 
dog  or  a  hedge  of  honeysuckle  were  always 
pleasant  events  upon  a  walk  to  me.  And 
yet  he  himself  cared  for  neither  flowers  nor 
animals.  Tender  and  kind  as  he  was,  sim- 
ple and  unassuming  in  all  his  tastes,  yet  he 
did  not  like  flowers  !  I  confess  that  even 
now  I  find  it  hard  to  understand.  He  knew 
children  so    thoroughly   and   well — perhaps 


LEWIS  CARROLL  69 

better  than  any  one  else — that  it  is  all  the 
stranger  that  he  did  not  care  for  things  that 
generally  attract  them  so  much.  However, 
be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  remained.  When 
I  was  in  raptures  over  a  poppy  or  a  dogrose, 
he  would  try  hard  to  be  as  interested  as  I 
was,  but  even  to  my  childish  eyes  it  was  an 
obvious  effort,  and  he  would  always  rather 
invent  some  new  game  for  us  to  play  at. 
Once,  and  once  only,  I  remember  him  to 
have  taken  an  interest  in  a  flower,  and  that 
was  because  of  the  folic-lore  that  was  at- 
tached to  it,  and  not  because  of  the  beauty 
of  the  flower  itself. 

We  used  to  walk  into  the  country  that 
stretched,  in  beautiful  natural  avenues  of 
trees,  inland  from  Eastbourne.  One  day 
while  we  sat  under  a  ereat  tree,  and  the  hum 
of  the  myriad  insect  life  rivalled  the  murmur 
of  the  far-away  waves,  he  took  a  foxglove 
from  the  heap  that  lay  in  my  lap  and  told 
me  the  story  of  how  they  came  by  their 
name  ;  how,  in  the  old  days,  when,  all  over 


70  LEWIS  CARROLL 

England,  there  were  great  forests,  like  the 
forest  of  Arden  that  Shakespeare  loved,  the 
pixies,  the  "  little  folks,"  used  to  wander  at 
night  in  the  glades,  like  Titania,  and  Oberon, 
and  Puck,  and  because  they  took  great  pride 
in  their  dainty  hands  they  made  themselves 
gloves  out  of  the  flowers.  So  the  particular 
flower  that  the  "  little  folks  "  used  came  to 
be  called  "  folks'  gloves."  Then,  because 
the  country  people  were  rough  and  clumsy 
in  their  talk,  the  name  was  shortened  into 
"  Fox-gloves,"  the  name  that  every  one  uses 
now. 

When  I  got  very  tired  we  used  to  sit 
down  upon  the  grass,  and  he  used  to  show 
me  the  most  wonderful  things  made  out  of 
his  handkerchief.  Every  one  when  a  child 
has,  I  suppose,  seen  the  trick  in  which 
a  handkerchief  is  rolled  up  to  look  like  a 
mouse,  and  then  made  to  jump  about  by  a 
movement  of  the  hand.  He  did  this  better 
than  any  one  I  ever  saw,  and  the  trick  was 
a  never-failing   joy.      By   a  sort  of  consent 


LEWIS  CARROLL  71 

between  us  the  handkerchief  trick  was  kept 
especially  for  the  walk  to  Beachy  Head, 
when,  about  half-way,  I  was  a  little  tired 
and  wanted  to  rest.  When  we  actually  got 
to  the  Head  there  was  tea  waiting  In  the 
coastguard's  cottage.  He  always  said  I  ate 
far  too  much,  and  he  would  never  allow  me 
more  than  one  rock  cake  and  a  cup  of  tea. 
This  was  an  invariable  rule,  and  much  as  I 
wished  for  it,  I  was  never  allowed  to  have 
more  than  one  rock  cake. 

It  was  in  the  coastofuard's  house  or  on 
the  orrass  outside  that  I  heard  most  of  his 
stories.  Sometimes  he  would  make  ex- 
cursions into  the  realms  of  pure  romance, 
where  there  were  scaly  dragons  and  strange 
beasts  that  sat  up  and  talked.  In  all  these 
stories  there  was  always  an  adventure  In  a 
forest,  and  the  great  scene  of  each  tale  al- 
ways took  place  in  a  wood.  The  consum- 
mation of  a  story  was  always  heralded  by 
the  phrase,  "  The  children  now  came  to  a 
deep     dark    wood."      When     I    heard    that 


72  LEWIS  CARROLL 

sentence,  which  was  always  spoken  very 
slowly  and  with  a  solemn  dropping  of  the 
voice,  I  always  knew  that  the  really  exciting 
part  was  coming.  I  used  to  nestle  a  little 
nearer  to  him,  and  he  used  to  hold  me  a  lit- 
tle closer  as  he  told  of  the  final  adventure. 

He  did  not  always  tell  me  fairy  tales, 
though  I  think  I  liked  the  fairy  tale  much 
the  best.  Sometimes  he  eave  me  accounts 
of  adventures  which  had  happened  to  him. 
There  was  one  particularly  thrilling  story  of 
how  he  was  lost  on  Beachy  Head  in  a  sea 
fog,  and  had  to  find  his  way  home  by  means 
of  boulders.  This  was  the  more  interesting 
because  we  were  on  the  actual  scene  of  the 
disaster,  and  to  be  there  stimulated  the 
imagination. 

The  summer  afternoons  on  the  great  head- 
land were  very  sweet  and  peaceful.  I  have 
never  met  a  man  so  sensible  to  the  influ- 
ences of  Nature  as  Lewis  Carroll.  When 
the  sunset  was  very  beautiful  he  was  often 
affected    by    the    sight.       The    widespread 


MISS    ISA    BOWMAN    AND    MISS    BESSIE    HATTON    AS    THE 
LITTLE    PRINCES    IN    THE    TOWER 


73 


74  LEWIS  CARROLL 

wrinkled  sea  below,  in  the  mellow  melan- 
choly light  of  the  afternoon,  seemed  to  fit 
in  with  his  temperament.  I  have  still  a 
mental  picture  that  I  can  recall  of  him  on 
the  cliff.  Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  and  a 
cool  breeze  whispered  round  us,  he  would 
take  off  his  hat  and  let  the  wind  play  with 
his  hair,  and  he  would  look  out  to  sea. 
Once  I  saw  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  when  we 
turned  to  go  he  gripped  my  hand  much 
tighter  than  usual. 

We  generally  got  back  to  dinner  about 
seven  or  earlier.  He  would  never  let  me 
change  my  frock  for  the  meal,  even  if  we 
were  oroino-  to  a  concert  or  theatre  after- 
wards.  He  had  a  curious  theory  that  a 
child  should  not  change  her  clothes  twice  in 
one  day.  He  himself  made  no  alteration  in 
his  dress  at  dinner  time,  nor  would  he  per- 
mit me  to  do  so.  Yet  he  was  not  by  any 
means  an  untidy  or  slovenly  man.  He  had 
many  little  fads  in  dress,  but  his  great  hor- 
ror and  abomination  was  hieh-heeled  shoes 


LEWIS  CARROLL 


/o 


with  pointed  toes.  No  words  were  strong 
enough,  he  thought,  to  describe  such  mon- 
strous things. 

Lewis  Carroll  was  a  deeply  religious  man, 
and  on  Sundays  at  Eastbourne  we  always 
went  twice  to  church.  Yet  he  held  that  no 
child  should  be  forced  into  church-iJ^oinof 
airainst  its  will.  Such  a  state  of  mind  in  a 
child,  he  said,  needed  most  careful  treat- 
ment, and  the  very  worst  thing  to  do  was  to 
make  attendance  at  the  services  compulsory. 
Another  habit  of  his,  which  must,  I  feel 
sure,  sound  rather  dreadful  to  many,  was 
that,  should  the  sermon  prove  beyond  my 
comprehension,  he  would  give  me  a  little 
book  to  read  ;  it  was  better  far,  he  main- 
tained, to  read,  than  to  stare  idly  about  the 
church.  When  the  rest  of  the  conorreo-ation 
rose  at  the  entrance  of  the  choir  he  kept  his 
seat.  He  argued  that  risin^r  to  one's  feet  at 
such  a  time  tended  to  make  the  choir-boys 
conceited.      I  think  he  was  quite  right. 

He    kept    no    special    books    for  Sunday 


76  LEWIS  CARROLL 

reading,  for  he  was  most  emphatically  of 
opinion  that  anythincr  tending  to  make  Sun- 
day a  day  dreaded  by  a  child  should  be  studi- 
ously avoided.  He  did  not  like  me  to  sew 
on  Sunday  unless  it  was  absolutely  necessary. 
One  would  have  hardly  expected  that  a 
man  of  so  reserved  a  nature  as  Lewis  Carroll 
would  have  taken  much  interest  in  the 
stage.  Yet  he  was  devoted  to  the  theatre, 
and  one  of  the  commonest  of  the  treats 
that  he  eave  his  little  ofirl  friends  was  to 
organise  a  party  for  the  play.  As  a  critic 
of  acting  he  was  naive  and  outspoken,  and 
never  hesitated  to  find  fault  if  he  thouo^ht  it 
justifiable.  The  following  letter  that  he 
wrote  to  me  criticising  my  acting  in  "  Rich- 
ard in."  when  I  was  playing  with  Richard 
Mansfield,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  that 
I  ever  received  from  him.  Althoucrh  it  was 
written  for  a  child  to  understand  and  profit 
by,  and  moreover  written  in  the  simplest 
possible  way,  it  yet  even  now  strikes  me  as 
a  trenchant  and  valuable  piece  of  criticism. 


i  ^t' . 


ISA    BOWMAN    AS    DUKE    OF    YORK 


77 


y^  LEWIS  CARROLL 

"  Ch.  Ch.  Oxford, 

''Ap.  4,  '89. 

"  My  Lord  Duke, — The  photographs,  which  Your 
Grace  did  me  the  honour  of  sending  arrived  safely  ; 
and  I  can  assure  your  Royal  Highness  that  I  am  very 
glad  to  have  them,  and  like  them  very  much,  particu- 
larly the  large  head  of  your  late  Royal  Uncle's  little 
little  son.  I  do  not  wonder  that  your  excellent  Uncle 
Richard  should  say  '  off  with  his  head  !  '  as  a  hint  to 
the  photographer  to  print  it  off.  Would  your  High- 
ness like  me  to  go  on  calling  you  the  Duke  of  York, 
or  shall  I  say  '  my  own  own  darling  Isa  ?'  Which  do 
you  like  best  ? 

"Now  I'm  going  to  find  fault  with  my  pet  about 
her  acting.  What  's  the  good  of  an  old  Uncle  like 
me  except  to  find  fault  ? 

"  You  do  the  meeting  with  the  Prince  of  Wales 
very  nicely  and  lovingly  ;  and,  in  teasing  your  Uncle 
for  his  dagger  and  his  sword,  you  are  very  sweet  and 
playful  and — '  but  that's  not  finding  fault  !  '  Isa  says 
to  herself.  Is  n't  it  ?  Well,  I  '11  try  again.  Did  n't 
I  hear  you  say  '  In  weightier  things  you  '11  say  a  Z^^-^'-- 
s^ar  nay,'  leaning  on  the  word  '  beggar  '  ?  If  so,  it 
was  a  mistake.  My  rule  for  knowing  which  word  to 
lean  on  is  the  word  that  tells  you  something  nni\ 
something  that  is  different  from  what  you  expected. 

"  Take  the  sentence  '  first  I  bought  a  bag  of  apples, 
then  I  bought  a  bag  of  pears,'  you  would  n't  say 
'  then  I  bought  a  bag  of  pears.'  The  ^  bag  '  is  nothing 
new,  because  it  was  a  bag  in  the  first  part  of  tlie  sen- 
tence.    But  \\\Q pears  are  new,  and  different  from  the 


LEWIS  CARROLL  79 

apples.  So  you  would  say,  '  then  I  bought  a  bag  of 
pears' 

"  Do  you  understand  that,  my  pet  ?  " 

*'  Now  what  you  say  to  Richard  amounts  to  this, 
'  With  light  gifts  you  '11  say  to  a  beggar  "  yes  "  :  with 
heavy  gifts  you  '11  say  to  a  beggar  "  nay."  '  The 
words  *  you  '11  say  to  a  beggar  '  are  the  same  both  times  ; 
so  you  must  n't  lean  on  any  of  those  words.  But 
'  light  '  is  different  from  '  heavy,'  and  '  yes  '  is  different 
from  '  nay.'  So  the  way  to  say  the  sentence  would  be 
'  with  //>///  gifts  you  '11  say  to  a  beggar  ''yes  "  :  with 
heavy  gifts  you  '11  say  to  a  beggar  "  nay  "  .'  And  the 
way  to  say  the  lines  in  the  play  is — 

'  O,  then  I  see  you  \\\\\  part  but  with  light  gifts  ; 
In  xveightier  things  you  '11  say  a  beggar  nay.'' 

One  more  sentence. 

"  When  Richard  says,  '  WHiat,  would  you  have  my 
weapon.^  little  Lord  ?'  and  you  reply  'I  would,  tliat  I 
might  thank  you  as  you  call  me,'  did  n't  I  hear  you 
pronounce  '  thank  '  as  if  it  were  spelt  with  an  '  e  '  ?  I 
know  it's  very  common  (I  often  do  it  myself)  to  say 
'  thenk  you  !  '  as  an  exclamation  by  itself.  I  suppose 
it's  an  odd  way  of  pronouncing  the  word.  But  1  'm 
sure  it 's  wrong  to  pronounce  it  so  when  it  comes  into 
a  sentence.  It  will  sound  much  nicer  if  you  '11  pro- 
nounce it  so  as  to  rhyme  with  '  bank.' 

"One  more  thing.  ('What  an  impertinent  old  un- 
cle !  Always  finding  fault  !  ')  You  're  not  as  natural, 
when  acting  the  Duke,  as  you  were  when  you  acted 
Alice.      You   seemed    to    me   not   to    forgot  yourself 


8o  LEWIS  CARROLL 

enough.  It  was  not  so  much  a  real  pri7ice  talking  to 
his  elder  brother  and  his  uncle  ;  it  was  Isa  Bowman 
talking  to  people  she  did  n't  ?/iuch  care  about,  for  an 
audience  to  listen  to — I  don't  mean  it  was  that  all 
through,  but  sometimes  you  were  artificial.  Now  don't 
be  jealous  of  Miss  Hatton,  when  I  say  she  was  sweetly 
natural.  She  looked  and  spoke  like  a  real  Prince  of 
Wales.  And  she  didn't  seem  to  know  that  there  was 
any  audience.  If  you  are  ever  to  be  a  good  actress  (as 
I  hope  you  will),  you  must  learn  io  forget '  Isa'  alto- 
gether, and  be  the  character  you  are  playing.  Try  to 
think  '  This  is  really  the  Prince  of  Wales.  I  'm  his 
little  brother,  and  I  'm  very  glad  to  meet  him,  and  I 
love  him  very  much,'  and  '  this  is  really  my  uncle  : 
he's  very  kind,  and  lets  me  say  saucy  things  to  him,' 
and  do  forget  that  there  's  anybody  else  listening  ! 

"  My  sweet  pet,  I  hope  you  won't  be  offended  with 
me  for  saying  what  I  fancy  might  make  your  acting 
better  ! 

"  Your  loving  old  Uncle, 

"Charles. 

X  for  Nellie. 

X  for  Maggie.  X  for  Isa." 

X  for  Emsie. 

He  was  a  fairly  constant  patron  of  all  the 
London  theatres,  save  the  Gaiety  and  the 
Adelphi,  which  he  did  not  like,  and  num- 
bered a  good  many  theatrical  folk  among  his 


LEWIS  CARROLL  8i 

acquaintances.  Miss  Ellen  Terry  was  one 
of  his  greatest  friends.  Once  I  remember 
we  made  an  expedition  from  Eastbourne  to 
Margate  to  visit  Miss  Sarah  Thome's  thea- 
tre, and  especially  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
Miss  Violet  Vanbrugh's  Ophelia.  He  was 
a  great  admirer  of  both  Miss  Violet  and 
Miss  Irene  Vanbrueh  as  actresses.  Of 
Miss  Thome's  school  of  acting,  too,  he  had 
the  highest  opinion,  and  it  was  his  often 
expressed  wish  that  all  intending  players 
could  have  so  excellent  a  course  of  tuition. 
Amonor  the  male  members  of  the  theatrical 
profession  he  had  no  especial  favourites,  ex- 
cepting Mr.OToole  and  Mr.  Richard  Mans- 
field. 

He  never  went  to  a  music-hall,  but  con- 
sidered that,  properly  managed,  they  might 
be  beneficial  to  the  public.  It  was  only 
when  the  refrain  of  some  particularly  vulgar 
music-hall  song  broke  upon  his  ears  in  the 
streets  that  he  permitted  himself  to  speak 
harshly  about  variety  theatres. 


82  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Comic  opera,  when  it  was  wholesome,  he 
liked,  and  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  Sa- 
voy theatre.  The  good  old  style  of  Panto- 
mime, too,  was  a  orreat  delisfht  to  him,  and 
he  would  often  speak  affectionately  of  the 
pantomimes  at  Brighton  during  the  regime 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nye  Chart.  But  of  the 
up-to-date  pantomime  he  had  a  horror,  and 
nothing  would  induce  him  to  visit  one. 
"  When  pantomimes  are  written  for  children 
once  more,"  he  said,  *'  I  will  go.  Not  till 
then." 

Once  when  a  friend  told  him  that  she  was 
about  to  take  her  little  girls  to  the  panto- 
mime, he  did  not  rest  till  he  had  dissuaded 
her. 

To  conclude  what  I  have  said  about 
Lewis  Carroll's  affection  for  the  dramatic 
art,  I  will  give  a  kind  of  examination  paper, 
written  for  a  child  who  had  been  learning  a 
recitation  called  "  The  Demon  of  the  Pit." 
Though  his  stuttering  prevented  him  from 
being  himself  anything  of  a  reci::.  r,  he  Lved 


««^- 


THE    LITTLE    I'KINCES 


83 


84  LEWIS  CARROLL 

correct  elocution,  and  would  take  any  pains 
to  make  a  child  perfect  in  a  piece. 

First  of  all  there  is  an  explanatory  para- 
-graph. 

"  As  you  don't  ask  any  questions  about 
'  The  Demon  of  the  Pit,'  I  suppose  you 
understand  it  all.  So  please  answer  these 
questions  just  as  you  would  do  if  a  younger 
child  (say  Mollie)  asked  them." 

Mollie.  Please,  Ethel,  will  you  explain 
this  poem  to  me.  There  are  some  very 
hard  words  in  it. 

Ethel.   What  are  the)',  dear  ? 

Mollie.  Well,  in  the  first  line,  "  If  you 
chance  to  make  a  sally."  What  does  "sally" 
mean  ? 

Ethel.  Dear  Mollie,  I  believe  sally  means 
to  take  a  chance  work.^ 

Mollie.  Then,  near  the  end  of  the  first 
verse — "  Whereupon  she  '11  call  her  cronies  " 


'  At  this  point  the  real  child's  answers  begin,  the  three  or  four 
lines  alone  were  written  by  Mr.  Dodgson  himself. — Ed, 


LEWIS  CARROLL  85 

— what  does  ''whereupon"  mean?  And 
what  are  cronies  ? 

EtJicl.  I  think  whereupon  means  at  the 
same  time,  and  cronies  means  her  favourite 
playfellows. 

Mollie.  "And  invest  in  proud  polonies." 
Wliat  's  to  "  invest  ?  " 

Ethel.  To  invest  means  to  spend  money 
in  anything  you  fancy. 

Mollie.  And  what  's  "A  woman  of  the 
day?" 

Ethel.  A  woman  of  the  day  means  a 
wonder  of  the  time  with  the  general  public. 

Mollie.  "  Pyrotechnic  blaze  of  wit." 
What  's  pyrotechnic  ? 

Ethel.  Mollie,  I  think  you  will  find  that 
pyrotechnic  means  quick,  with  flashes  of 
HcrhtnincT. 

Mollie.  Then  the  8  lines  that  begin  "The 
astounding  infant  wonder  " — please  explain 
"  role  "  and  "  mise  "  and  "  tout  ensemble  " 
and  "grit." 

Ethel.     Well,    Mollie,    "role"    means    so 


86  LEWIS  CARROLL 

many  different  things,  but  in  "  The  Demon 
of  the  Pit  "  I  should  think  it  meant  the 
leading  part  of  the  piece,  and  "  mise " 
means  somethincr  extra  orood  introduced, 
and  "  tout  "  means  to  seek  for  applause,  but 
"  ensemble  "  means  the  whole  of  the  parts 
taken  together,  and  grit  means  something 
Q-Qod. 

Mollie,  *'  And  the  Goblins  prostrate  tum- 
ble." What 's  "  prostrate  "  ? 

Ethel.  I  believe  prostrate  means  to  be 
cast  down  and  unhappy. 

Mollie.  ''And  his  accents  shake  a  bit." 
What  are  "  accents  "  ? 

Ethel.  To  accent  is  to  lay  stress  upon  a 
word. 

Mollie.  "  Waits  resignedly  behind." 
What  's   "  resignedly  "  ? 

Ethel.  Resignedly  means  givmg  up, 
yielding. 

Mollie.  "  They  have  tripe  as  light  to 
dream  on."  What  does  "as"  mean  here? 
and  what  does   "  to  dream  on  "  mean  ? 


LEWIS  CARROLL  87 

EtJiel.  Mollle,  dear,  your  last  question  Is 
very  funny.  In  the  first  place,  I  have 
always  been  told  that  hot  suppers  are  not 
good  for  any  one,  and  I  should  think  that 
TRIPE  would  not  be  light  to  dream  on  but 
VERY  heavy, 

Mollic,   Thank  you,  Ethel. 

I  have  now  nearly  finished  my  little 
memoir  of  Lewis  Carroll  ;  that  is  to  say,  I 
have  written  down  all  that  I  can  remember 
of  my  personal  knowledge  of  him.  But  I 
think  it  is  from  the  letters  and  the  diaries 
published  in  this  book  that  my  readers  must 
chiefly  gain  an  insight  into  the  character  of 
the  greatest  friend  to  children  who  ever 
lived.  Not  only  did  he  study  children's 
ways  for  his  own  pleasure,  but  he  studied 
them  in  order  that  he  might  please  them. 
For  instance,  here  is  a  letter  that  he  wrote 
to  my  little  sister  Nelly  eight  years  ago, 
which  begins  on  the  last  page  and  is  written 
entirely  backwards — a  kind  of  variant  on  his 


88  LEWIS  CARROLL 

famous  "  Looking-Glass"  writing.  You  have 
to  begin  at  the  last  word  and  read  back- 
wards before  you  can  understand  it.  The 
only  ordinary  thing  about  it  is  the  date.  It 
begins — I  mean  begins  if  one  was  to  read  it 
in  the  ordinary  way — with  the  characteristic 
monogram,  C.  L.  D. 

"  N'ov.  I,  1. 891. 
'*  C.  L.  D.,  Uncle  loving  your!  Instead  grandson 
his  to  it  give  to  had  you  that  so,  years  80  or  70  for 
it  forgot  you  that  was  it  pity  a  what  and  :  him  of 
fond  so  were  you  wonder  don't  I  and,  gentleman  old 
nice  very  a  was  he.  For  it  made  you  that  ///;//  been 
have  must  it  see  you  so  -.grandfather  my  was,  tJien  alive 
was  that,  '  Dodgson  Uncle'  only  the.  Born  was  / 
before  long  was  that,  see  you,  then  But.  '  Dodgson 
Uncle  for  pretty  thing  some  make  I  '11  now,'  it  began 
you  when,  yourself  to  said  you  that,  me  telling  her 
without,  knew  I  course  of  and  :  ago  years  many  great 
a  it  made  had  you  said  she.  Me  told  Isa  what  from 
was  it  ?  For  meant  was  it  who  out  made  I  how 
know  you  do  !  Lasted  has  it  well  how  and.  Grand- 
father my  for  made  had  you  Antimacassar  pretty 
that  me  give  to  you  of  nice  so  was  it,  Nelly  dear  my." 


LEWIS  CARROLL  89 


Bo     cnn    ^O  ^trr  U:  ^^a^a^ 


3d  CihB^  ff^^^  d^y^ytA-o^  ^LffKrt 
^^t^jurt.  ^i^^CLAht>  ^rw^T  iJUj^e^ 
±Aa..  ^^afn.  c^l  ^-^f^ 


90  LEWIS  CARROLL 


a>\j 


LEWIS  CARROLL  91 


Miss  Hatch  has  also  sent  me  an  original 
letter  that  Lewis  Carroll  wrote  to  her  in 
1873,  about  a  large  wax  doll  that  he  had 
ofiven  her.  It  is  interestinor  to  notice  that 
this  letter,  written  long  before  any  of  the 
others  that  he  wrote  to  me,  is  identically 
the  same  in  form  and  expression.  It  is  a 
striking  proof  how  fresh  and  unimpaired  the 
writer's  sympathies  must  have  been.  Year 
after  year  he  retained  the  same  sweet,  kindly 
temperament,  and,  if  anything,  his  love  for 
children  seemed  to  increase  as  he  erew  older. 

o 


92  LEWIS  CARROLL 

"  My  dear  Birdie, — I  met  her  just  outside  Tom 
Gate,  walking  very  stiffly,  and  I  think  she  was  trying 
to  find  her  way  to  my  rooms.  So  I  said,  '  Why  have 
you  come  here  without  Birdie  ? '  So  she  said, '  Birdie  's 
gone  !  and  Emily  's  gone  !  and  Mabel  is  n't  kind  to 
me  ! '  And  two  little  waxy  tears  came  running  down 
her  cheeks. 

"  Why,  how  stupid  of  me  !  I  've  never  told  you  who 
it  was  all  the  time  !  It  was  your  new  doll.  I  was 
very  glad  to  see  her,  and  I  took  her  to  my  room,  and 
gave  her  some  vesta  matches  to  eat,  and  a  cup  of  nice 
melted  wax  to  drink,  for  the  poor  little  thing  was  very 
hungry  and  thirsty  after  her  long  walk.  So  I  said, 
'  Come  and  sit  down  by  the  fire,  and  let 's  have  a  com- 
fortable chat  ?'  '  Oh  no  !  no  !  '  she  said,  '  I  'd  much 
rather  not.  You  know  I  do  melt  so  very  easily  !  ' 
And  she  made  me  take  her  quite  to  the  other  side  of 
the  room,  where  it  was  very  cold  :  and  then  she  sat  on 
my  knee,  and  fanned  herself  with  a  pen -wiper,  be- 
cause she  said  she  was  afraid  the  end  of  her  nose  was 
beginning  to  melt. 

You  've  no  idea  how  careful  we  have  to  be,'  we 
dolls,  she  said.  '  Why,  there  was  a  sister  of  mine — 
would  you  believe  it  ? — she  went  up  to  the  fire  to 
warm  her  hands,  and  one  of  her  hands  dropped  right 
off  !  There  now  !  '  '  Of  course  it  dropped  7-ight  off,' 
I  said,  '  because  it  was  the  right  hand.'  '  And  how 
do  you  know  it  was  the  right  hand.  Mister  Carroll?' 
the  doll  said.  So  I  said,  '  I  think  it  must  have  been 
the  right  hand  because  the  other  hand  was  left.' 

"  The  doll  said,  'I   shan't  laugh.      It  's  a  very  bad 


LEWIS  CARROLL  93 

joke.  Why,  even  a  common  wooden  doll  could  make 
a  better  joke  than  that.  And  besides,  they  've  made 
my  mouth  so  stiff  and  hard,  that  I  cant  laugh  if  I 
try  ever  so  much  ?'  '  Don't  be  cross  about  it,'  I  said, 
'  but  tell  me  this  :  I  'm  going  to  give  Birdie  and  the 
other  children  one  photograph  each,  which  ever  they 
choose;  which  do  you  think  Birdie  will  choose?' 
'  I  don't  know,'  said  the  doll  ;  '  you  'd  better  ask 
her  !  '  So  I  took  her  home  in  a  hansom  cab.  Which 
would  you  like,  do  you  think  ?  Arthur  as  Cupid?  or 
Arthur  and  Wilfred  together?  or  you  and  Ethel  as 
beggar  children  ?  or  Ethel  standing  on  a  box  ?  or, 
one  of  yourself? — Your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Lewis  Carroll." 

Amone  the  bundle  of  letters  and  MS.  be- 
fore  me,  I  find  written  on  a  half  sheet  of 
note-paper  the  followinc^  Ollendorfian  dia- 
logue. It  is  interesting  because,  slight  and 
trivial  as  it  is,  it  in  some  strange  way  bears 
the  imprint  of  Lewis  Carroll's  style.  The 
thing  is  written  in  the  familiar  violet  ink, 
and  neatly  dated  in  the  corner  29/9/90 : — 

"  Let  's  eo  and  look  at  the  house  I  want 
to  buy.  Now  do  be  quick  !  You  move  so 
slow  !  What  a  time  you  take  with  your 
boots  ! " 


94  LEWIS  CARROLL 

"  Don't  make  such  a  row  about  it :  It 's  not 
two  o'clock  yet.  How  do  you  like  this 
house  ?" 

"  I  don't  like  it.  It 's  too  far  down  the 
hill.  Let  's  go  higher.  I  heard  a  nice  ac- 
count of  one  at  the  top,  built  on  an  improved 
plan." 

"  What  does  the  rent  amount  to  ?  " 

*'  Oh,  the  rent  's  all  right :  it 's  only  nine 
pounds  a  year." 

Over  all  matters  connected  with  letter 
writing,  Lewis  Carroll  was  accustomed  to 
take  great  pains.  All  letters  that  he  re- 
ceived that  were  of  any  interest  or  import- 
ance whatever  he  kept,  putting  them  away 
in  old  biscuit  tins,  numbers  of  which  he 
kept  for  the  purpose. 

In  1888  he  published  a  little  book  which 
he  called  "  Eight  or  Nine  Wise  Words 
about  Letter  Writing,"  and  as  this  little 
book  of  mine  is  so  full  of  letters,  I  think  I  can 
do  no  better  than  make  a  few  extracts  : — 


•.^^i 


DOLLY    VARDEN 


95 


96  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Write  Legibly. — The  average  temper  of  the  hu- 
man race  would  be  perceptibly  sweeter  if  every  one 
obeyed  this  rule  !  A  great  deal  of  the  bad  writing 
in  the  world  comes  simply  from  writing  too  quickly. 
Of  course  you  reply,  'I  do  it  to  save  time.'  A  very 
good  object,  no  doubt  ;  but  what  right  have  you  to 
do  it  at  your  friend's  expense  ?  Is  n't  his  time  as 
valuable  as  yours?  Years  ago  I  used  to  receive  let- 
ters from  a  friend — and  very  interesting  letters  too 
— written  in  one  of  the  most  atrocious  hands  ever 
invented.  It  generally  took  me  about  a  iveek  to  read 
one  of  his  letters  !  I  used  to  carry  it  about  in  my 
pocket,  and  take  it  out  at  leisure  times,  to  puzzle 
over  the  riddles  which  composed  it — holding  it  in 
different  positions,  and  at  different  distances,  till  at 
last  the  meaning  of  some  hopeless  scrawl  would  flash 
upon  me,  when  I  at  once  wrote  down  the  English 
under  it  ;  and,  when  several  had  thus  been  guessed, 
the  context  would  help  one  with  the  others,  till  at  last 
the  whole  series  of  hieroglyphics  was  deciphered.  If 
ail  one's  friends  wrote  like  that,  life  would  be  entirely 
spent  in  reading  their  letters." 

hi  writing  the  last  wise  word,  the  author 
no  doubt  had  some  of  his  girl  correspond- 
ents in  his  mind's  eye,  for  he  says — 

"  My  Ninth  Rule. — When  you  get  to  the  end  of  a 
note  sheet,  and  find  you  have  more  to  say,  take 
another  piece  of  paper — a  whole  sheet  or  a  scrap,  as 
the  case  may  demand  ;  but,  whatever  you  do,  don't 


LEWIS  CARROLL  97 

cross!  Remember  the  old  proverb,  'Cross  writing 
makes  cross  reading.'  '  The  old  proverb,'  you  say 
inquiringly;  'how  old?'  Well,  not  so  very  ancient, 
I  must  confess.  In  fact  I  'm  afraid  I  invented  it 
while  writing  this  paragraph.  Still  you  know  '  old  '  is 
a  comparative  term.  I  think  you  would  be  quite  just- 
ified in  addressing  a  chicken  just  out  of  the  shell  as 
'  Old  Boy  !  '  when  compared  with  another  chicken  that 
was  only  half  out  !  " 

I  have  another  diary  to  give  to  my  readers, 

a  diary   that   Lewis   Carroll   wrote   for   my 

sister  Maggie  when,  a  tiny  child,  she  came 

to  Oxford  to  play  the  child  part,  Mignon, 

in  "  Booties'  Baby."     He  was  delighted  with 

the  pretty   play,    for  the    interest   that    the 

soldiers  took  in  the  little  lost  girl,  and  how 

a  mere   interest   ripened  into  love,   till  the 

little    Mignon   was  queen   of  the    barracks, 

went  straight  to  his  heart.      I  give  the  diary 

in  full  :— 

"MAGGIE'S  VISIT   TO  OXFORD 

June  g  to  13,  1899 

When  Maggie  once  to  Oxford  came 
On  tour  as  '  Booties'  Baby,' 

She  said  '  I  '11  see  this  place  of  fame, 
However  dull  the  day  be  ! ' 


98  LEWIS  CARROLL 

So  with  her  friend  she  visited 

The  sights  that  it  was  rich  in  : 

And  first  of  all  she  poked  her  head 

Inside  the  Christ  Church  Kitchen. 

The  cooks  around  that  little  child 
Stood  waiting  in  a  ring  : 

And,  every  time  that  Maggie  smiled, 
Those  cooks  began  to  sing — 
Shouting  the  Battle-cry  of  Freedom  1 

'  Roast,  boil,  and  bake, 
For  Maggie's  sake  ! 
Bring  cutlets  fine, 
For  /ler  to  dine  : 
Meringues  so  sweet, 
For  /ler  to  eat — 
For  Maggie  may  be 
Booties'  Baby  !  ' 

Then  hand-in-hand,  in  pleasant  talk, 
They  wandered,  and  admired 

The  Hall,  Cathedral,  and  Broad  Walk, 
Till  Maggie's  feet  were  tired  : 

One  friend  they  called  upon — her  name 

Was  Mrs.  Hassall—  then 
Into  a  College  Room  they  came, 

Some  savage  Monster's  Den  ! 

'  And,  when  that  Monster  dined,  I  guess 
He  tore  her  limb  from  limb  ? ' 


LEWIS  CARROLL  99 

Well,  no  :  in  fact,  I  must  confess 
That  Maggie  dined  with  him  ! 

To  Worcester  Garden  next  they  strolled — 

Admired  its  quiet  lake  : 
Then  to  St.  John's,  a  College  old, 

Their  devious  way  they  take. 

In  idle  mood  they  sauntered  round 

Its  lawns  so  green  and  flat  : 
And  in  that  Garden  Maggie  found 

A  lovely  Pussey-Cat  ! 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  they  spent 
In  wandering  to  and  fro  : 

And  everywhere  that  Maggie  went. 
That  Cat  was  sure  to  go — 
Shouting  the  Battle-cry  of  Freedom  ! 

'  Miaow  !   Miaow  ! 
Come,  make  your  bow  ! 
Take  off  your  hats, 
Ye  Pussy  Cats  ! 
And  purr,  and  purr, 
To  welcome  her — 
For  Maggie  may  be 
Booties'  Baby  !  ' 

So  back  to  Christ  Church — not  too  late 

For  them  to  go  and  see 
A  Christ  Church  Undergraduate, 

Who  gave  them  cakes  and  tea. 


loo  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Next  day  she  entered,  with  her  guide, 
The  Garden  called  '  Botanic  '  : 

And  there  a  fierce  Wild-Boar  she  spied, 
Enough  to  cause  a  panic  ! 

But  Maggie  did  n't  mind,  not  she  ! 

She  would  have  faced  alone, 
That  fierce  Wild-Boar,  because,  you  see, 

The  thing  was  made  of  stone  ! 

On  Magdalen  walls  they  saw  a  face 
That  filled  her  with  delight, 

A  giant-face,  that  made  grimace 

And  grinned  with  all  its  might  ! 

A  little  friend,  industrious, 

Pulled  upwards,  all  the  while. 

The  corner  of  its  mouth,  and  thus 
He  helped  that  face  to  smile  ! 

'How  nice,'  thought  Maggie,  'it  would  be 

If  /  could  have  a  friend 
To  do  that  very  thing  for  7ne, 
And  make  my  mouth  turn  up  with  glee, 

By  pulling  at  one  end  !  ' 

In  Magdalen  Park  the  deer  are  wild 
With  joy  that  Maggie  brings 

Some  bread  a  friend  had  given  the  child. 
To  feed  the  pretty  things. 

They  flock  round  Maggie  without  fear  : 
They  breakfast  and  they  lunch, 


LEWIS  CARROLL  loi 

They  dine,  they  sup,  those  happy  deer — 
Still,  as  they  munch  and  munch, 
Shouting  the  Battle-cry  of  Freedom  ! 

'  Yes,  Deer  are  we. 
And  dear  is  she  ! 
We  love  this  child 
So  sweet  and  mild  : 
We  all  rejoice 
At  Maggie's  voice  : 
We  all  are  fed 
With  Maggie's  bread — 
For  Maggie  may  be 
Booties'  Baby  !  ' 

To  Pembroke  College  next  they  go, 

Where  little  Maggie  meets 
The  Master's  wife  and  daughter  :  so 

Once  more  into  the  streets. 

They  met  a  Bishop  on  their  way — 

A  Bishop  large  as  life — 
With  loving  smile  that  seemed  to  say 

'  Will  Maggie  be  my  wife  ? ' 

Maggie  thought  not^  because,  you  see, 

She  was  so  very   young, 
And  he  was  old  as  old  could  be — 

So  Maggie  held  her  tongue. 

*  My  Lord,  she  's  Booties  Baby  :  we 
Are  going  up  and  down,' 


I02  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Her  friend  explained,  'that  she  may  see 
The  sights  of  Oxford-town.' 

*Now  say  what  kind  of  place  it  is  ! ' 

The  Bishop  gaily  cried. 
'  The  best  place  in  the  Provinces  ! ' 

That  little  maid  replied. 

Next  to  New  College,  where  they  saw 

Two  players  hurl  about 
A  hoop,  but  by  what  rule  or  law 

They  could  not  quite  make  out. 

*  Ringo  '  the  Game  is  called,  although 
'  Les  Graces  '  was  once  its  name, 

When  //  was — as  its  name  will  show — 
A  much  more  graceful  Game. 

The  Misses  Symonds  next  they  sought, 
Who  begged  the  child  to  take 

A  book  they  long  ago  had  bought — 
A  gift  for  friendship's  sake  ! 

Away,  next  morning,  Maggie  went 
From  Oxford-town  :  but  yet 

The  happy  hours  she  there  had  spent 
Sbe  could  not  soon  forget. 

The  train  is  gone  :   it  rumbles  on  : 
The  engine-whistle  screams  : 

But  Maggie  's  deep  in  rosy  sleep — 
And  softly,  in  her  dreams, 
Whispers  the  Battle-cry  of  Freedom  ! 


T 


•'  A    TURK' 


103 


I04  LEWIS  CARROLL 

'  Oxford,   good-bye  ! ' 
She  seems  to  sigh, 
*  You  dear  old  City, 
With  Gardens  pretty. 
And  lawns,  and  flowers, 
And  College-towers, 
And  Tom's  great  Bell — 
Farewell,  farewell  ! 
For  Maggie  §nay  be 
Booties'  Baby  ! ' 

— Lewis  Carroll." 

The  tale  has  been  often  told  of  how  "  Alice 
in  Wonderland  "  came  to  be  written,  but  it 
is  a  tale  so  well  worth  the  telling  again,  that, 
very  shortly,  I  will  give  it  to  you  here. 

Years  ago  in  the  great  quadrangle  of 
Christ  Church,  opposite  to  Mr.  Dodgson, 
lived  the  little  daughters  of  Dean  Liddell, 
the  great  Greek  scholar  and  Dean  of  Christ 
Church.  The  little  girls  were  great  friends 
of  Mr.  Dodgson's,  and  they  used  often  to 
come  to  him  and  to  plead  with  him  for  a 
fairy  tale.  There  was  never  such  a  teller 
of  tales,  they  thought !  One  can  imagine 
the  whole  delightful  scene  with  little  trouble. 


LEWIS  CARROLL  105 

That  ble  cool  room  on  some  summer's  after- 
noon,  when  the  air  was  heavy  with  flower 
scents,  and  the  sounds  that  came  floating  in 
through  the  open  window  were  all  mellowed 
by  the  distance.  One  can  see  him,  that 
good  and  kindly  gentleman,  his  mobile  face 
all  aglow  with  Interest  and  love,  telling  the 
Immortal  story. 

Round  him  on  his  knee  sat  the  little  sis- 
ters, their  eyes  wide  open  and  their  lips 
parted  in  breathless  anticipation.  When 
Alice  (how  the  little  Alice  LIddell  who  was 
listening  must  have  loved  the  tale  !)  rubbed 
the  mushroom  and  became  so  bie  that  she 
quite  filled  the  little  fairy  house,  one  can 
almost  hear  the  rapturous  exclamations  of  the 
little  ones  as  they  heard  of  it. 

The  story,  often  continued  on  many  sum- 
mer afternoons,  sometimes  in  the  cool  Christ 
Church  rooms,  sometimes  In  a  slow  gliding 
boat  In  a  still  river  between  banks  of  rushes 
and  strange  bronze  and  yellow  waterflowers, 
or  sometimes  in  a  great  hay-field,  with  the 


io6  LEWIS  CARROLL 

insects  whispering  in  the  grass  all  round, 
grew  in  its  conception  and  idea. 

Other  folk,  older  folk,  came  to  hear  of  it 
from  the  little  ones,  and  Mr.  Dodgson  was 
begged  to  write  it  down.  Accordingly  the 
first  MS.  was  prepared  with  great  care  and 
illustrated  by  the  author.  Then,  in  1865, 
memorable  year  for  English  children,  "Alice  " 
appeared  in  its  present  form,  with  Sir  John 
Tenniel's  drawinors. 

In  1872  *' Alice  Through  the  Looking- 
Glass,"  appeared,  and  was  received  as 
warmly  as  its  predecessor.  That  fact,  I 
think,  proves  most  conclusively  that  Lewis 
Carroll's  success  was  a  success  of  absolute 
merit,  and  due  to  no  mere  mood  or  fashion 
of  the  public  taste.  I  can  conceive  nothing 
more  difficult  for  a  man  who  has  had  a  o^reat 
success  with  one  book  than  to  write  a  sequel 
which  should  worthily  succeed  it.  In  the 
present  case  that  is  exactly  what  Lewis  Car- 
roll did.  "  Throuofh  the  Lookins^-Glass " 
is  every  whit  as  popular   and  charming  as 


LEWIS  CARROLL  107 

the  older  book.  Lideed  one  depends  very 
much  upon  the  other,  and  in  every  child's 
book-shelves  one  sees  the  two  masterpieces 
side  by  side. 


A   CHARADE 


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109 


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Cc^M.  ^ 


LEWIS  CARROLL  iii 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  two  "  AHces," 
I  will  put  in  a  letter  that  he  wrote  mention- 
ing his  books.  He  was  so  modest  about 
them,  that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  get 
him  to  say,  or  write,  anything  at  all  about 
them.  I  believe  it  was  a  far  greater  pleas- 
ure for  him  to  know  that  he  had  pleased 
some  child  with  "Alice"  or  "The  Hunting 
of  the  Snark,"  than  it  was  to  be  hailed  by 
the  press  and  public  as  the  first  living  writer 
for  children. 

"  Eastbourne. 
*'  My  own  darling  Isa, — The  full  value  of  a  copy 
of  the  French  '  Alice  '  is  ^45  :  but,  as  you  want  tHe 
'  cheapest '  kind,  and  as  you  are  a  great  friend  of 
mine,  and  as  I  am  of  a  very  noble,  generous  disposi- 
tion, I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  a  great  sacrifice, 
and  have  taken  ^3,  los.  od.  off  the  price.  So  that 
you  do  not  owe  me  more  than  ^41,  los.  od,,  and  this 
you  can  pay  me,  in  gold  or  bank-notes  as  soon  as  you 
ever  like.  Oh  dear  !  I  wonder  why  I  write  such 
nonsense  !  Can  you  explain  to  me,  my  pet,  how  it 
happens  that  when  I  take  up  my  pen  to  write  a  letter 
\Q you  it  won't  write  sense?  Do  you  think  the  rule  is 
that  when  the  pen  finds  it  has  to  write  to  a  nonsensi- 
cal good-for-nothing  child,  it  sets  to  work  to  write  a 
nonsensical  good-for-nothing  letter  ?     Well,  now  I  '11 


112  LEWIS  CARROLL 

tell  you  the  real  truth.  As  Miss  Kitty  Wilson  is  a 
dear  friend  of  yours,  of  course  she  's  a  sort  of  a  friend 
of  mine.  So  I  thought  (in  my  vanity)  'perhaps  she 
would  like  to  have  a  copy  '  from  the  author,  '  with  her 
name  written  in  it.'  So  I  've  sent  her  one — but  I  hope 
she  '11  understand  that  I  do  it  because  she  's  your 
friend,  for,  you  see,  I  had  never  heard  of  her  before  : 
so  I  would  n't  have  any  other  reason. 

"  I  'm  still  exactly  '  on  the  balance '  (like  those 
scales  of  mine,  when  Nellie  says  '  it  won't  weigh  ! ') 
as  to  whether  it  would  be  wise  to  have  my  pet  Isa 
down  here!  how  am  I  to  make  it  weigh,  I  wonder? 
Can  you  advise  any  way  to  do  it  ?  I  'm  getting  on 
grandly  with  '  Sylvie  and  Bruno  Concluded.'  I  'm 
afraid  you  '11  expect  me  to  give  you  a  copy  of  it  ? 
Well,  I  '11  see  if  I  have  one  to  spare.  It  won't  be  out 
before  Easter-tide,  I  'm  afraid. 

"  I  wonder  what  sort  of  condition  the  book  is  in 
that  I  lent  you  to  take  to  America?  ('Laneton  Par- 
sonage,' I  mean).  Very  shabby,  I  expect.  I  find 
lent  books  7iever  come  back  in  good  condition.  How- 
ever, I  've  got  a  second  copy  of  this  book,  so  you  may 
keep  it  as  your  own.  Love  and  kisses  to  any  one  you 
know  who  is  lovely  and  kissable. — 

"  Always  your  loving  Uncle, 

"  C.  L.  D." 

In  1876  appeared  the  long  poem  called 
the  "  Hunting  of  the  Snark  ;  or.  An  Agony 
in  Eight  Fits,"  and  besides  those  verses  we 


LEWIS  CARROLL  113 

have  from  Lewis  Carroll's  pen  two  books 
called  "  Phantasmagoria  "  and  ''  Rhyme  and 
Reason." 

The  last  work  of  his  that  attained  any- 
great  celebrity  was  "  Sylvie  and  Bruno,"  a 
curious  romance,  half  fairy  tale,  half  mathe- 
matical treatise.  Mr.  Dodeson  was  em- 
ployed  of  late  years  on  his  *'  Symbolic 
Logic,"  only  one  part  of  which  has  been 
published,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  in- 
fluenced by  his  studies.  One  can  easily 
trace  the  trail  of  the  logician  in  Sylvie  and 
Bruno,  and  perhaps  this  resulted  in  a  certain 
lack  of  "form."  However,  some  of  the 
nonsense  verses  in  this  book  were  up 
to  the  highest  level  of  the  author's  achieve- 
ment.     Even  as  I  write  the  verse  comes  to 


me- 


He  thought  he  saw  a  kangaroo 

Turning  a  coffee-mill  ; 

He  looked  again,  and  found  it  was 

A  vegetable  pill  ! 

*  Were  I  to  swallow  you,'  he  said, 

'  I  should  be  very  ill '  !  " 


114  LEWIS  CARROLL 

The  fascinating  jingle  stays  in  the  memory 
when  graver  verse  eludes  all  effort  at  re- 
collection. I  personally  could  repeat  "  The 
Walrus  and  the  Carpenter  "  from  beginning 
to  end  without  hesitation,  but  I  should  find 
a  difficulty  in  writing  ten  lines  of  "  Hamlet " 
correctly. 

At  the  beginning  of  ''  Sylvie  and  Bruno  " 
is  a  little  poem  in  three  verses  which  forms 
an  acrostic  on  my  name.      I  quote  it — 

,<{,"    ."  Is  all  our  life,  then,  but  a  dream, 
' '  ■  ■^'      Seen  faintly  in  the  golden  gleam 

Athwart  Time's  dark  resistless  stream  ? 

Bowed  to  the  earth  with  bitter  woe, 
Or  laughing  at  some  raree-show, 
We  flutter  idly  to  and  fro. 

•  Man's  little  day  in  haste  we  spend, 
And,  from  its  merry  noontide,  send 
No  glance  to  meet  the  silent  end." 

You  see  that  if  you  take  the  first  letter  of 
each  line,  or  if  you  take  the  first  three  let- 
ters of  the  first  line  of  each  verse,  you  get 
the  name  Isa  Bowman. 


LEWIS  CARROLL 


■'>^.3-  .^^  ^  ^ ^  ^-  t^^  ?" 


ii6  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Although  he  never  wrote  anything  in  the 
dramatic  Hne,  he  once  wrote  a  prologue  for 
some  private  theatricals,  which  was  to  be 
spoken  by  Miss  Hatch  and  her  brother. 
This  prologue  is  reproduced  in  facsimile  on 
the  preceding  page. 

Miss  Hatch  has  also  sent  me  a  charade 
(reproduced  on  pp.  1 08-10)  which  he  wrote 
for  her,  and  illustrated  with  some  of  his 
funny  drawings. 

I  have  one  more  letter,  the  last,  which,  as 
it  mentions  the  book  *'  Sylvie  and  Bruno,"  I 
will  give  now. 

"  Christ  Church, 
''May  16,  'go, 

"  Dearest  Isa, — I  had  this  ('  this  '  was  '  Sylvie 
and  Bruno  ')  bound  for  you  when  the  book  first  came 
out,  and  it 's  been  waiting  here  ever  since  Dec,  17,  for 
I  really  did  n't  dare  to  send  it  across  the  Atlantic — 
the  whales  are  so  inconsiderate.  They'd  have  been 
sure  to  want  to  borrow  it  to  show  to  the  little  whales, 
quite  forgetting  that  the  salt  water  would  be  sure  to 
spoil  it. 

"  Also,  I  've  only  been  waiting  for  you  to  get  back 
to  send  Emsie  the  *  Nursery  Alice,'  I  give  it  to  the 
youngest  in  a  family  generally  ;  but  I  've  given  one 


LEWIS  CARROLL  117 

to  Maggie  as  well,  because  she  travels  about  so  much, 
and  I  thought  she  would  like  to  have  one  to  take  with 
her.  I  hope  Nellie's  eyes  won't  get  quite  green  with 
jealousy,  at  two  (indeed  three  l)  of  her  sisters  getting 
presents,  and  nothing  for  her  !  I  've  nothing  but  my 
love  to  send  her  to-day  :  but  she  shall  have  something 
some  day. — Ever  your  loving        Uncle  Charles." 

Socially,  Lewis  Carroll  was  of  strong  con- 
servative tendencies.  He  viewed  with  won- 
der and  a  little  pain  the  absolute  levelling 
tendencies  of  the  last  few  years  of  his  life. 
I  have  before  me  an  extremely  interesting 
letter  which  deals  with  social  observances, 
and  from  which  I  am  able  to  make  one  or 
two  extracts.  The  bulk  of  the  letter  is  of  a 
private  nature. 

"  Ladies  have  '  to  be  jnuch  '  more  particular  than 
gentlemen  in  observing  the  distinctions  of  what  is 
called  '  social  position  '  :  and  the  lower  their  own 
position  is  (in  the  scale  of  '  lady '  ship),  the  more 
jealous  they  seem  to  be  in  guarding  it.  ...  I  've 
met  with  just  the  same  thing  myself  from  people 
several  degrees  above  me.  Not  long  ago  I  was  stay- 
ing in  a  house  along  with  a  young  lady  (about  twenty 
years  old,  I  should  think)  with  a  title  of  her  own,  as 
she  was  an  earl's  daughter.     I  happened  to  sit  next 


ii8  LEWIS  CARROLL 

her  at  dinner,  and  every  time  I  spoke  to  her,  she 
looked  at  nie  more  as  if  she  was  looking  down  on  me 
from  about  a  mile  up  in  the  air,  and  as  if  she  were 
saying  to  herself  '  How  dare  you  speak  to  me  I  Why, 
you  're  not  good  enough  to  black  my  shoes  !  '  It 
was  so  unpleasant,  that,  next  day  at  luncheon,  I  got 
as  far  off  her  as  I  could  ! 

"  Of  course  we  are  all  quite  equal  in  God's  sight, 
but  we  do  make  a  lot  of  distinctions  (some  of  them 
quite  unmeaning)  among  ourselves  !  " 

The  picture  that  this  letter  gives  of  the 
famous  writer  and  learned  mathematician 
obviously  rather  in  terror  of  some  pert 
young  lady  fresh  from  the  schoolroom  is 
not  without  its  comic  side.  One  cannot 
help  imagining  that  the  girl  must  have  been 
very  young  indeed,  for  if  he  were  alive  to- 
day there  are  few  ladies  of  any  state  who 
would  not  feel  honoured  by  the  presence  of 
Charles  Dodgson. 

However,  he  was  not  always  so  unfort- 
unate in  his  experience  of  great  people, 
and  the  following  letter,  written  when  he 
was  staying  with  Lord  Salisbury  at  Hat- 
field  House,   tells  delightfully   of    his  little 


LEWIS  CARROLL  119 

royal     friends,     the     Duchess     of     Albany's 
children  : 

"  Hatfield  House,  Hatfield, 
"  Herts,  June  8,  '8g." 

*'  My  darling  Isa, —  I  hope  this  will  find  you,  but 
I  haven't  yet  had  any  letter  from  Fiilham^  so  I  can't 
be  sure  if  you  have  yet  got  into  your  new  house. 

"This  is  Lord  Salisbury's  house  (he  is  the  father, 
you  know,  of  that  Lady  Maud  Wolmer  that  we  had 
luncheon  with)  :  1  came  yesterday,  and  I  'm  going  to 
stay  until  Monday.  It  is  such  a  nice  house  to  stay 
in  !  They  let  one  do  just  as  one  likes  —  it  is  n't 
'  Now  you  must  do  some  geography  !  now  it 's  time 
for  your  sums  !  '  the  sort  of  life  some  little  girls  have 
to  lead  when  they  are  so  foolish  as  to  visit  friends  — 
but  one  can  just  please  one's  own  dear  self. 

"  There  are  some  sweet  little  children  staying  in 
the  house.  Dear  little  '  Wang '  is  here  with  her 
mother.  By  the  way, /made  a  mistake  in  telling  you 
what  to  call  her.  She  is  '  the  Honourable  Mabel 
Palmer  ' — '  Palmer'  is  the  family  name  :  '  Wolmer' 
is  the  title ^  just  as  the  family  name  of  Lord  Salisbury 
is  '  Cecil,'  so  that  his  daughter  was  Lady  Maud  Cecil, 
till  she  married. 

"  Then  there  is  the  Duchess  of  Albany  here,  with 
two  such  sweet  little  children.  She  is  the  widow  of 
Prince  Leopold  (the  Queen's  youngest  son),  so  her 
children  are  a  Prince  and  Princess  :  the  girl  is  '  Alice,' 
but  I  don't  know  the  boy's  Christian  name  :  they  call 
him  '  Albany,'  because    he  is  the   Duke  of    Albany. 


I20  LEWIS  CARROLL 

Now  that  I  have  made  friends  with  a  real  live  little 
Princess,  I  don't  intend  ever  to  speak  to  any  more 
children  that  have  n't  any  titles.  In  fact,  I  'm  so  proud, 
and  I  hold  my  chin  so  high,  that  I  should  n't  even  see 
you  if  we  met !  No,  darlings,  you  must  n't  believe 
that.  If  I  made  friends  with  a  dozefi  Princesses,  I 
would  love  you  better  than  all  of  them  together,  even 
if  I  had  them  all  rolled  up  into  a  sort  of  child-roly- 
poly. 

"Love  to  Nellie  and  Emsie. —  Your  ever  loving 
Uncle,  C.  L.  D." 

X  X  X  X  X  X  X 

And  now  I  think  that  I  have  done  all 
that  has  been  in  my  power  to  present  Lewis 
Carroll  to  you  in  his  most  delightful  aspect 
— as  a  friend  to  children.  I  have  not  pre- 
tended in  any  way  to  write  an  exhaustive 
life-story  of  the  man  who  was  so  dear  to 
me,  but  by  the  aid  of  the  letters  and  the 
diaries  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  publish, 
and  by  the  few  reminiscences  that  I  have 
given  you  of  Lewis  Carroll  as  I  knew  him, 
I  hope  I  have  done  something  to  bring  still 
nearer  to  your  hearts  the  memory  of  the 
greatest  friend  that  children  ever  had. 


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